Following Rose Weasley
by meercat-DR
Summary: This story follows Rose Weasley through her years in Hogwarts. Leads up to an eventual RW/SM. Rated T for some coarse language. Reviews and comments much appreciated!
1. The Sorting

As the train pulled away from Platform 9 and 3/4, Rose and her cousin Albus found their heads sticking out their cabin window, waving frantically at their parents as they shouted their last goodbyes. It was strange to be going away. Rose and Albus had been looking forward to this day for years, watching with envy as their older siblings and cousins had boarded the Hogwarts Express without them. But now that it was their turn, they weren't so sure they were ready to leave home just yet. Rose especially, felt a sinking feeling in her stomach as she watched the image of her smiling parents drift further and further away, blurred by the steam from the train. Albus seemed to sense this and resignedly the pair, closed the cabin window, taking their seats.

It was difficult to tell that they were related. They looked nothing like each other. Albus was a miniature version of his father, the dark unkempt hair, sparkling green eyes, even the spectacles were almost identical to Harry's. Rose had hazel eyes. Her hair was curly, not as bushy as her mother's had been and instead of the typical Weasley ginger hair, her's was a shade of auburn. Attempting to entertain herself, Rose pulled out, "Hogwarts: A History" and Albus gazed out the window. They stayed that way for nearly an hour until Albus broke the silence. "Nervous Rosie?" he asked her. Rose looked up from her book. Albus' face was neutral, unreadable."I suppose" she answered.

Albus nodded, chewing his lip. Rose could tell he was nervous. He didn't have to tell her. His body language practically screamed, "Help! I think I'm going to be in Slytherin and my world will come to an end!" Shutting her book she gazed at him. "What would you do?"

"Pardon?" Albus seemed rather startled at her question, obviously lost in his thoughts.

"What would you do if you were in Slytherin?" Rose asked.

Albus furrowed his brows. After a pause her murmured, "I don't know"

Rose leaned forward and looked at her cousin. He refused to meet her gaze.

"What are you afraid of?" she asked.

Albus shook his head. "It's just the kind of people of are in Slytherin that freak me out."

Rose nodded, "Ok so you think that if you get into Slytherin, you'll be a bad person?"

Albus didn't respond but Rose continued anyway.

"You're a good person Al." she smiled.

Albus looked up to meet his cousin's gaze. "I know" he nodded. "It's just the whole concept of that house, the history, what has gone down there... Honestly Rosie, would you want to be in Slytherin?"

"No" came the swift reply.

"You see?" Albus stated as if he had made his point.

"But" Rose cut in, "If i was put in Slytherin, I wouldn't die either. There's a reason for everything Al. I mean I'm sure there's a purpose to house sorting."

Albus smiled. "I wonder if you would say that if you really were in Slytherin." he chuckled.

Rose smirked. "Well we just have to wait and see."

After that the conversation lightened up. Soon enough they found themselves fast approaching their destination. Albus had gone to change into his robes. The train was coming to a halt and Albus was still not back. "Al!" she called from within the cabin. No answer. She sighed. Just like him to change into his robes at the last minute. She of course, had changed before even boarding the train. Deciding that she should look for him, she slid open the cabin door and made a right, bumping straight into someone. "Oof!" Rose exclaimed as she fell backwards on her bum. She looked up to see a blonde haired boy with grey eyes staring down at her in surprise. She blinked once, twice. It was apparent that he was not going to help her up. She didn't know what to do.

Luckily for her, the boy seemed to have emerged from his daze and mumbled a "Sorry" before helping her to her feet. His hand was cold, like ice. "Sorry about that." she rubbed her bum. "I was just looking for my cousin. Didn't see you." The boy just seemed to nod. He stared at her looking, to Rose's surprise, almost intimidated. The pair stood there, looking at each other awkwardly. "Erm well see you?" Rose muttered and hurried away in the opposite direction. She didn't dare turn back, in case he was still there. Strange behaviour. He had acted like she was some Hungarian Horntail, going to rip him to shreds. Or maybe he just wasn't used to talking to girls? He seemed familiar though, where had she seen him before...

"Rose!" she was jolted out of her thoughts as she saw Albus hurrying towards her. "There you are!" she exclaimed. "Come on!" she grabbed him and they hurried along with the other first years to get off the train.

"Hagrid!" Rose smiled up at their half giant friend.

"Rose, Al!" Hagrid smiled at the pair and ruffled their hair.

"Hagrid!" they both exclaimed.

Hagrid chuckled in response. "To th' boats with yer'!" he raised his voice, addressing not only them but the rest of the first years.

Linking arms, Rose and Albus hurried along to the boats. Climbing into one of them, they watched with awe as the boats slowly drifted towards the magnificent castle that was Hogwarts. Albus was squeezing Rose's hand so tightly she thought she might as well cut it off. But she couldn't blame her cousin. She had seen pictures of the castle but seeing it for herself, at night it was even more beautiful than she could have imagined.

The first years were hurried into the castle and ushered up the stairs till they reached the entrance to the Great Hall. Rose and Albus smiled as they saw the familiar face of Neville Longbottom or Professor Longbottom, now that they were students at Hogwarts. Noticing the pair, Neville gave them a knowing smile. Then he turned to face the first years. "Good evening first years! I trust all of you had a safe and comfortable trip. I am Professor Longbottom here to brief you on your house sorting. Now when you enter the Hall you will see four tables, one representing each house, Griffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Now while you are here, your house will be like your family. Any wrongdoings will result in deducted points. Good deeds result in addition of points. At the end of the year, the house cup will be awarded to the house with the most points. When we enter, I will call your names, you will approach me and I will place the sorting hat on your head, for you to be sorted. Are we clear?" the students nodded solemnly. Neville nodded and gesturing to the students, the doors of the Great Hall opened.

Rose thought she was in heaven. Nothing could describe her emotions. She gazed at the bewitched ceiling and smiled as she saw James and their other family members wave from the Griffindor Table. The sorting was according to Alphabetical order. Being a Weasley, Rose watched impatiently as one after another, people were sorted. "Scorpius Malfoy!" Neville called. Rose gasped. That was the boy on the train! Now she knew where she had seen him. Her father had told her to stay away from him. She couldn't understand why though... "SLYTHERIN!" the hat called. "Oh" Rose thought to herself. "Maybe that's why."

"Albus Potter!" Neville called. Rose squeezed her cousin's hand as he made his way up to the hat. No sooner had it touched his head did it shout, "GRIFFINDOR!" Rose cheered as she watched her cousin hurry over to the Griffindor table, looking relieved. She was glad that Albus was happy.

Name after name was called and finally it was her turn. Taking a deep breath she marched up to the stool and waited as Neville placed the hat on her head. "Hmmm" a little voice in her head murmured. "This is interesting, a Weasley-Granger mix. Well there's intelligence yes but not much courage. I don't see you in Griffindor." Rose's heart sank a little. "Well not Hufflepuff... wait what's this. A bit of a sly devil are we? Well this will be interesting. Yes yes you will do well there. Better be, SLYTHERIN!" the hat finally exclaimed. Rose felt a shock overcome her. It was as if the world had gone cold. The claps that surrounded her seemed to have muted. She found herself smiling and walking towards the Slytherin table. But she felt nothing, absolutely nothing. It was as if she was hollow and all she could think about was the looks of astonishment and horror on the faces of her family.


	2. Best Friends

Rose gazed around the Slytherin common room still in a daze. Mechanically she seemed to examine, the plush green furniture, the rugs, the torches on the walls and the green fire that blazed from the fireplace. It was as if she hadn't fully processed what had happened to her. Dinner had gone by in a blur. Some of her fellow first year Slytherins had approached her. They all seemed nice enough. But she couldn't focus on them. She didn't have to turn around but she could feel the eyes of her family boring into her back.

Now looking around the common room she found that she was comforting herself. "It isn't so bad." she muttered to herself. "Remember what you told Al. Everything for a purpose..." her thoughts were again disrupted by one of the Slytherin prefects. "Boys dormitories up the stairs on your left, Girls the same on your right. All your belongings have already been unpacked." The first years nodded. Some skipped up the stone steps to check out the dormitories. Others scattered around the common room, talking amongst themselves. Rose just stood there not knowing what to do.

Suddenly she felt a soft hand on her shoulder. She turned to see an older Slytherin student smiling at her. Her hair was black, she had green eyes and her badge said she was a fifth year. "You ok?" she asked gently. Rose forced herself to nod. She wouldn't cry, not here anyway. "I'm Katie" she smiled. "As a prefect I'm glad to tell you that if you ever need to talk about anything, you can come to me." "Thanks" Rose half choked.

"Upset about something Rose?" Katie asked again, this time more determined for an answer. "How do you know my name?" Rose looked at her. "First Weasley ever in Slytherin, you're worth remembering." Katie smiled. Rose sighed. "Oh" Katie gasped. "I'm sorry. That's what your'e bummed about isn't it? I am such an egghead." she slapped her forehead. Rose smiled. "Yea... I was kind of hoping to be with my family. But looks like that's not going to happen. Plus when I got into Slytherin they looked, horrified. What if they hate me?" Katie shook her head, "Hey just because you aren't in the same house doesn't mean they'll hate you or spend time with you. Family will always be there for you. Plus don't worry about getting left out, I'm sure you'll make loads of new friends here. Come on I'll take you up to your dorm." Katie guided Rose up the stone stairs to the dormitory.

Katie knocked on one of the doors labelled, "First Years". Then she opened the door. The girls in the room looked up with interest. Rose gazed about the dormitories. Five green poster beds were scattered across the room. The walls and floors were stone and there was a green tinge to the light. But instead of feeling intimidated, Rose found it rather homey. "Hi everyone" Katie looked around at the girls. The girls all smiled. "Hi" they called. Katie stepped back revealing Rose. "This is Rose. She is the first one in her family whose been sorted into Slytherin and she hasn't quite got her footing. Do you think you guys could take care of her for me?" she asked. Rose gripped to Katie's hand like she was a six year old going to the doctor. "Sure. Nice to meet you Rose!" one of the girls stepped forward. She had sandy blonde hair and light blue eyes. "I'm Sarah" she smiled.

"Hi" Rose shook Sarah's outstretched hand. "So you're the Weasley?" one of the other girls asked. It wasn't a sneer nor a mock. Her voice had a curious edge to it. Rose nodded. The girls cocked her head and smiled. "Well I guess there's a first time for everything eh Rose? I'm Melissa. Mel for short." Rose took her hand. "Hi" she mumbled. The other two girls nodded at Rose and smiled but didn't introduce themselves. "You see Rose you're making new friends already. Don't be too worried about your family ok?" Katie smiled. Rose couldn't help but smile back. Katie had a very reassuring tone to her voice. She had already made her feel much more optimistic. "Well I'll leave you guys to it then." she said. "Bye Rose. And remember, I'm available anytime. That goes for the rest of you too!" she called and Rose reluctantly watched her slowly shut the door of. Katie, she decided was going to be one of her good friends.

Rose turned around to face her new room mates. "So Rose," Sarah smiled. "Your bed's the middle one." Rose nodded and hurried self-consciously over to the four poster. She could see all her things laid out before her for the new year ahead. "Hey Rose" the two girls who hadn't introduced themselves came up to her. "Sorry we didn't introduce ourselves. We were a bit... shy." Rose studied the two girls. They must be twins. They both had chocolate brown hair and eyes. "We're twins" one of them stated as if confirming her thoughts. "This I'm Claire and my sister's Anne." Rose looked between the two trying to figure out how she would tell them apart. As if reading her mind Claire smiled, "Anne always wears a green hairband and I don't". Rose gave her a bemused smile. The overwhelming urge to cry, something she had felt all evening, was suddenly gone.

Rose collapsed on her bed, exhausted. "So you enjoying being a Slytherin so far?" Mel chuckled. Rose sat up in her bed and looked at her.

"Well I thought at first I'd be in Griffindor like the rest of my family..." she started.

Sarah sighed. "Who needs that house eh Rose? This year, Slytherin will rock!" she chuckled.

Rose laughed. "Yea well the irony is my cousin thought he'd end up here but it turned out to be me instead."

Mel plonked herself on Rose's bed, "Hey wanna know the advantage of being here?"

Rose looked at her, "Yea?"

Mel grinned wickedly. "In Griffindor you gotta be goody two shoes but here you getta break the rules a bit."

"Yea!" the twins chimed in.

Somehow all five girls seemed to be huddled around Rose's bed by now. Rose now felt more optimistic about being in Slytherin than ever.

"I am going to make it my personal mission to show you Slytherins aren't all that bad." Mel chimed in.

"I think you've just about won the battle." Rose stated genuinely.

At this comment, Mel looked pleased with herself. She raised her voice.

"In this dorm, we disregard blood-status and family background. We are all Slytherins and we are going to be best friends! All of us." she gazed at Rose who nodded, smiling.

The rest of the girls seemed to nod in agreement. "Link your pinky fingers." Mel stated. Rose laughed. It was so childish but she loved it. For the first time she really felt included. It was true she had a large family back home and there were always people around her but sometimes she felt like she was invisible, unwanted. After all she was just Rose, nothing special. But here, in Slytherin of all places, she had found a connection, a link and bond amongst these girls who had so willingly opened up to her. They were willing to accept her for who she was. As a person.

"Best friends forever?" Mel asked the group.

"Best friends!" they all agreed.

Rose felt a warm glow inside. She had been right about what she had told Albus on the train. "Sorting happens for a reason." And even though she wasn't exactly sure what her purpose in Slytherin was still unclear, for now, she would be satisfied.


	3. Scorpius

Rose woke on Monday bright, fresh and ready, looking forward to the day ahead. She looked around and saw that the twins were already awake, combing their hair and such but Mel and Sarah were still asleep. Getting out of bed, she rummaged around in her trunk for her uniform. "Good morning" she smiled at the twins. "Morning Rose!" the chimed in unison. Their voices awoke Mel. "Do you guys have to be so loud? Five minutes mum..." she muttered before covering her face with her pillow. Rose chuckled.

She hurriedly changed into her uniform, brushed her teeth and returned to the common room. When she got back she saw the twins sitting on their beds waiting. Sarah had evidently left for the washroom but Mel was still somewhere in slumberland. Rose looked at the twins. "We tried to get her up." Claire sighed. Setting her things down, Rose gently shook Mel. "Whaaa!" Mel fell out of bed. "Oops..." Rose mumbled. Mel jumped to her feet. "You'll pay for that Weasley!" she snarled but she was smiling. Gently punching Rose's shoulder she grabbed her stuff and headed for the washroom.

Eventually when they were all ready, the five girls head down for breakfast together, linking arms. Making their way directly to the Slytherin table, Rose purposely averted the gazes coming from the Griffindor table. Sarah sensing her stiffening up, gently placed her hand on Rose's shoulder and smiled reassuringly. "Had a good sleep?" she asked Rose. Rose laughed. "Yea better than Mel at least." Mel, hearing this, threw Rose a playful scowl. They seated themselves at the table and Rose began to help herself to toast and eggs.

The girls began to eat, chatting about their classes at the same time. Rose had practically memorised her timetable. "Hey Rose do you think you could memorise ours too?" the twins had teased. They had charms first and then DADA. Rose was not looking forward to either. Not that she hated either subject but because Albus would be there and there was going to be some form of drama. That she was sure of. Finishing off her toast, she waited patiently for the other girls. The Hall was beginning to empty as students began to leave for classes.

The girls hurried over to the charms classroom where Professor Flitwick was already waiting. Luckily they were not the last ones to arrive. Rose glanced around the classroom and to her relief saw that Albus was not there yet. "Welcome ladies" the Professor called. "Please if you would sit in pairs..." The twins hurriedly agreed that they would sit together. That left Rose, Mel and Sarah. Rose looked at her friends. She knew that Mel wanted to sit with Sarah. She sighed. Well someone would have to admit it. Might as well be her. "Mel and Sarah you guys sit together. I'll find someone else." Mel looked surprised. "Really?" Rose nodded smiling. "Yea sure don't worry about me." Sarah looked concerned but Rose smiled again. "Go really!" Sarah nodded and headed to a seat. Mel smiled and squeezed Rose's hand. "Thanks Rose, I promise you can sit next to her in DADA." Rose nodded and watched as Mel hurried to join Sarah as she looked for a spare seat.

The classroom was segregated into two. On one half sat the Griffindors and the other half, the Slytherins. She was not going to sit with a Griffindor so the only alternative would be... next to one of the boys. She sighed and headed for the stool. Maybe whoever she sat next to, wouldn't be too immature She didn't want to get distracted by her classmate. And on her first day too! She approached the boy. "Hi" she murmured. The boy whipped his head around and with a gasp she realised who she had said "Hi" to. Because there she was, staring face to face with Scorpius Malfoy.

Rose suddenly felt her cheeks redden. "Erm. There aren't any more partners. Do you mind?" she asked indicating to the seat. Scorpius smirked. Rose gulped. That timid and intimidated look she had seen on the train was gone. Instead here was a boy full of confidence. He was probably much more in his element now. "You're Weasley aren't you?" he asked. His voice was neutral. Rose couldn't decipher anything from his tone. All she could do was nod. He smirked again. "Well I suppose I could make a sacrifice. You may be a Weasley but at least you're a Slytherin." He pushed the chair towards her. "Thanks." she mumbled. He nodded.

Glancing at her partner, Rose managed to get a good look at Scorpius for the first time. He had platinum blonde hair, that was slicked back. He had a pointed chin and his jaw was lean. Glancing down at his notebook, she also noticed he had about the best guy handwriting she had ever seen. Suddenly Scorpius felt her gaze on him and looked at her. Instead of turning away, Rose stared at his eyes. She remembered them from the train. But up close they were much more intense. They were grey like liquid mercury. They seemed to bore into her soul.

Scorpius seemed to be scrutinizing her as well until he broke out of his trance and sneered, "What are you looking at?"

Rose cocked her head. Suddenly she felt a lot bolder. He wasn't intimidating. He was just an eleven year old boy! "You".

Scorpius seemed rather taken aback by this statement. For a moment there was genuine shock in his voice.

"Sorry?" he asked.

Rose smiled. "I'm looking at you."

Scorpius looked at her and she saw the corners of his mouth curve upwards.

"You're a funny character Weasley." he frowned.

"Rose" she stated, looking at the board as Professor Flitwick began writing down his lesson plan.

Again Scorpius was confused. "Huh?"

This time Rose chuckled. "I said my name is Rose"

Scorpius thought for a moment. His cocky attitude was completely gone now.

"It's probably a show", Rose thought to herself, to act tough or something. He reminded her a lot like James.

"Rose, you're a funny character." Scorpius murmured.

"Thanks" came the reply.

Professor Flitwick had just finished writing down his lesson plan. "Attention class! We are beginning!" he called out. Scorpius and Rose turned to face the front. "Now this class as you know is called..." his voice trailed off and everyone swung their heads around as they saw Albus Potter and another Griffindor boy hurry into class. Rose raised her eyebrow. She had been talking to Scorpius and hadn't realised that Albus hadn't showed up for class. She shook her head. Trust him to make an entrance.

Suddenly she felt a whisper in her ear, "Isn't that your cousin Weas... I mean Rose?"

Rose looked at Scorpius, there was genuine curiosity but his smirk had returned.

Rose didn't say anything and instead threw him a smirk of her own.

"Sorry we are late Professor!" Albus exclaimed. Professor Flitwick sighed. "Mr Potter I am a very accepting man but I do not tolerate late coming. 5 points from Griffindor." The Griffindor students groaned and the Slytherins smiled. Even Rose found she couldn't help herself. But Albus caught her eye, glaring and she hastily looked away.

The professor turned his attention back to the board. Rose attempted to focus but she was bothered again by another whisper in her ear.

"You close to Potter?" came Scorpius' voice.

"Yes" she muttered.

"Think he's mad at you?"

"Why would he be?"

"Cos you're in Slytherin?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"I thought you family has a grudge against Slytherins."

"Well they aren't noble and heroic are they?"

"And yet you're in Slytherin..."

"What's you're point?"

"I don't know I just thought..."

"Stop bothering me. I'm trying to study here!" she hissed

"Well you did choose to sit next to me."

"Your seat was the only one left!"

"So I'm the back up plan?"

"Yes... No. Not the point! Stop bothering me. Why are you bothering me?"

Scorpius smirked at her frustration. "I can't figure you out"

Rose stopped short. "What?"

Scorpius stared at her. He seemed... thoughtful. Was that possible? "Most people are easy to read. You're not. I thought you were the typical loyal Weasley with the timid personality but you're not. You're outspoken and bold and I can totally see why you're in Slytherin."

Rose did not know whether this was a compliment or not.

"Well I can't figure you out either..." she muttered.

Scorpius straightened up, "Of course you can't." he had that cocky voice again.

Rose rolled her eyes. "You're so full of yourself... Git" she muttered.

"I have every reason to be." he smirked.

He was back to the arrogant and confident attitude. That trace of thoughtfulness she had seen come through for a minute was gone. Scorpius she knew under all that bravado, was just a sensitive little boy. And deep down, she felt, it had become her mission to make him crack.

As if reading her thoughts, Scorpius smirked. "I wonder what would happen if we were friends? Do you think our parents would throw a fit?" there was a trace of rebellion in his voice.

Rose glanced over at her cousin. "Our parents would be the least of our concerns."

Scorpius following her gaze looked at her, "All the more reason to bond eh Weasley."

"Yea sure Malfoy." she glanced at him.

"Miss Weasley, Mr Malfoy, is there something you are willing to share with the rest of the class?" Rose suddenly realised the whole class was staring at them. Mel and Sarah were giving her amused looks while Albus looked like he was ready to explode. As if Rose was in cahoots with the devil... "No Professor." she replied coolly. Flitwick narrowed his eyes and nodded. "I only give one warning Miss Weasley, Mr Malfoy." he nodded to both of them. The nodded back at him and he turned to face the board again.

"Not bad Weasley. Looks like we make a mean lean class disrupting machine!" Scorpius smirked.

"Yipee..." Rose groaned.

Scorpius shoved her playfully on the shoulder.

Rose raised her eyebrow.

For a second Scorpius looked like a little boy, unsure what to do. Maybe he thought the shove was a bit much? She didn't mind. She had spent her whole life surrounded by arrogant little gits like Scorpius

"Hormones" Rose thought.

But as soon as he saw she hadn't taken offense to his actions well, he smirked.

Rose in retaliation, playfully whacked him back.

Rose turned away from him and say Albus' eyes boring into hers. She gulped. This was not going to end well...


	4. The Argument

The class flew by and soon Rose found herself getting to head over to DADA. Just then she saw Albus marching over to her. "Uh oh" she thought to herself. This would not end well. She glanced at Scorpius who could clearly see Albus approaching.

"Hello Rose" Albus said stonily.

"Al" Rose tried to force a smile.

"Who's this?" he asked, staring straight at Scorpius.

Rose shook her head. "Al you know it's Scorpius Malfoy."

Al glared at her. Rose was taken aback.

"What are you doing with him..." he sneered.

Rose regained her composure and stared at her cousin.

"That's none of your business Al."

"Really?"

"Really"

"Listen to yourself Rose." Albus was gritting his teeth and leaning towards her.

Rose was completely aware that most of the class was staring at the now.

"I don't know what you mean Al" she muttered.

"You sound like a Slytherin!" he exclaimed.

Several people broke out into whispers and Rose felt some of the Slytherin boys, including Scorpius, stiffen.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she sneered.

"You're morphing into one of them!" he cried.

Rose lost it. Albus whom she had supported throughout their childhood, he best friend was turning against her! This was too much to bear.

"Why do you make it sound as if being in Slytherin is such a bad thing!" she shouted. "As if every single Griffindor is so noble! PLEASE!" She shouted.

Albus looked taken aback backing away from the table but Rose continued, banging her fist on the desk.

"You know what, we promised that we would stick up for one another and now that I'm in Slytherin you think everything's going to change? You Griffindors are all the same, prejudiced little GITS!" she screamed.

Albus was just staring at her.

Rose could feel the heat radiating off her body. She had a strong urge not to whip out her wand right there and there.

Suddenly she felt a cool hand on her shoulder. Scorpius squeezed her shoulder as if to say, "Whoa Weasley you made your point. Calm down." She almost found the situation amusing. She would have expected a couple of days ago, to be shouting at Malfoy and that Albus would be the one to comfort her.

Rose felt like all the energy had been drained from her body.

She still glared as her cousin who stood their speechless. "Since you have nothing to say, shouldn't you be headed to class? You don't want another 5 points taken from Griffindor do you?" she breathed.

Albus didn't say a word. He hadn't even flinched during her rant. Now he mechanically turned and walked out of the classroom, the rest of the Griffindors silently following him.

Once they had left, the whole room suddenly erupted with cheers. "Go Rose!" Sarah shouted. "Yes show em' Griffindors!" another boy shouted. Rose glanced around in surprise as her Slytherin classmates cheered her name. She looked around, bewildered. She turned to face Scorpius who smirked. "I don't think many people actually stand up for us especially against their own family members. Congrats, you've won the hearts and minds of your fellow Slytherins."

Rose looked around. People were smiling and clapping. She felt good about it. She did. I mean someone had to speak for them. It just happened to be her. But at the same time she felt a great feeling of sorrow and remorse. Albus was her best friend. Even though she felt he deserved what she had said, it still felt awful to do that to him. But how could he? She had promised to be there for him if he had gotten into Slytherin. What made her sorting so different? Pushing the thoughts out of her mind, she was quickly hurried on by her fellow classmates, the girls surrounding her. Suddenly she couldn't care less about Albus. Because right now there were 9 other people practically worshipping her name.


	5. Family Confrontations

Rose headed to the Great Hall with her friends. By now the word about her confrontation with Albus had spread and almost everyone knew about it. While she was getting dirty looks from the Griffindors, she was getting thumbs ups and pats on the back by Slytherins. Rose wasn't sure whether she liked or hated the situation. All she knew was that by now the rest of her family had probably heard about the argument too and sooner or later she would have to face the music. She had the feeling she would face it during lunch. As she entered the Great Hall she could feel the eyes on her watching, waiting. She immediately made her way to the table with her friends and sat down.

"Hey Rose!" came a cheerful voice.

Rose smiled as she saw Katie hurrying towards her.

"Enjoying school so far?" she asked.

Rose smirked. "Yea"

Katie laughed. "You've met Scorpius I can tell."

Rose smiled. "Yea that smirk's contagious."

Katie leaned closer to her. "By the way I heard about the fight..."

Rose looked at her waiting for her reaction.

Katie didn't seem mad. "I can't say that fighting solved anything but at least you got it out of your system. You should talk to your cousin though."

"I know..." Rose sighed.

Katie nodded. "As long as you know." she broke the tension by thumping her on the back. "I still think you kicked ass though! Fancy a Slytherin lecturing a Griffindor!" she chuckled. She glanced at her watch. "Oh darn gotta go. See ya then Rose!" she waved and hurried away.

Rose turned back to her friends who were watching her curiously. "What?" she asked. "Looks like you've made quite a friend out of Katie." Mel smiled. "You're lucky. She doesn't usually take so much initiative with first years. Heard she's really good in Quiditch. Though that's only what I've heard..." Rose nodded.

"Speaking of friends..." Mel continued, "I see you've managed to make one out of Scorpius Malfoy too."

The others glanced around with interest. Of course they were interested, Scorpius Malfoy with his reputation, family history and the cocky arrogant attitude was supposedly hard to talk to. Rose didn't see what was so challenging though. He was just a boy.

Rose shook her head. "I don't know what to call it. That boy is crazy."

Sarah laughed. "Yea well aren't we all?" she asked.

Mel added on, "Plus when you were shouting at Albus he put his hand on your shoulder!"

Rose smiled, "I don't know about the whole shoulder thing... No I don't think we are friends. I think I just interest him."

"How so?" Claire murmured, between bites of food.

"He says he can't read me."

"That's a compliment!"

"Really?"

"Yea totally!" the rest chimed in.

"Oh" Rose muttered. "Ok whatever then."

"It is!" Mel said stressing the point. "He thinks you're different, not one of those stereotypical girls. At least you can get him to talk to you..." there was a slight longing in her voice.

Rose shuddered at the thought that Mel might like Scorpius. He was funny but she didn't see him as boyfriend material... She imagined him as one of the school's future Casanovas.

Suddenly she laughed, remembering her frustrating conversation with Scorpius. "Trust me, I think you'll be a lot more at peace if he didn't. I could barely listen to what the Professor was saying!" The girls started laughing again but suddenly Mel stopped, then so did Sarah and Claire. They all seemed to be peering over Rose's shoulder. "What's wrong?" Rose asked, she and Anne exchanging looks since their backs were facing the objects of curiosity. "Erm Rose, I think that inevitable family confrontation you were expecting is going to come a little sooner than you hoped..." Sarah murmured.

Rose froze. Her instincts had been right. The confrontation would be here! They probably would want to embarrass her like how she had embarrassed Al. She felt herself go cold and her heart was pounding. "How many?" she asked Mel. Mel gulped and did a quick head count. "8" she stuttered. Great this was great. Practically her entire family was about to descend upon her and embarrass her into the next century. "Pray for me" she muttered. Sarah, Mel and Claire all had nervous expressions on their faces. But Anne turned to Rose and smiled, squeezing her hand. "Be strong" she whispered.

"Rose" she cringed slightly as she heard James' voice behind her. James had always been one of her favourite cousins. He was the one who mentored her in Quiditch, took her side when she and Albus fought and saved her extra log cake at Christmas. Hearing his tone of voice, seemed to zap the energy from her. lowly she turned around to face the 8 Griffindors who stared at her with enormous intensity in their eyes. Near the front was Albus who refused to meet her gaze. Suddenly she understood. Albus didn't want this. He didn't want them to confront her.

Slowly she stood up, bringing herself to full height. She stared straight at James, waiting for him to speak. When he did not, she did. "Yes?" she asked.

James folded his arms and looked at his cousin. He was shocked. This was Rose? No way. A week ago, Rose would have been too timid to stand up against 8 of her family members, a week ago, she would never have dared to shout at Albus the way she had. Now as he looked at her, her eyes flashing with a sense of determination and anger, he could barely recognise her. Was it the Slytherin influence? Or was she just growing up? James cleared his throat. "Rose we need to talk." "About what?" snapped his cousin. Again a shock. Rose had never gotten angry with him, her cousin James, never. He sighed. "I think you know what." he muttered.

Rose unfolded her arms and stared at her cousin. He looked surprised at her reaction. Well he should get used to it. She had made up her mind: She wasn't going to be goody goody Rose anymore. She wasn't going to compromise for others anymore than she should. She was tired of doing all of that. "There's nothing to discuss." "Yes there is!" James hissed. This time it was Rose's turn to be taken aback. She turned to the rest of her family. "The rest of you have something to say? Or am I just talking to James here?" Fred cleared his throat. Rose glanced at him sharply. "Rose we want to talk to you. About... being in Slytherin." he finished. The rest of the family glared at Fred. They hadn't meant to put it so bluntly obviously. The twins seemed to wince at the statement too.

Rose shook her head. "What's there to say? You guys going to take Al's opinion?" James looked at her. "Well you are behaving differently..." "Please James!" Rose threw up her arms, "Since when did you become the master of psychology!" "Rose please listen..." Victoire implored. "NO! I am sick and tired of trying to be who you want me to be!" Rose shouted at them. Half of the people in the Great Hall had turned to watch the scene unfolding before them. "We aren't forcing you to be anyone!" Dominique cried out. "Like real! You guys never let me voice my opinion. When I told you my favourite colour was green, you guys teased me saying I was evil just like a Slytherin. Now that I am in Slytherin, you all are so bloody disappointed and you think I"M MORPHING INTO ONE OF THEM!" she nearly screamed staring pointedly at Albus.

She panted. "I thought families support one another..." she mumbled. She felt hot wet tears slowly streaking down the sides of her face. She felt like a fool now, crying in front of everyone. "Rose" James mumbled, "We just wanted to know how you were coping if you were fine." Rose glared at him, he was making her seem like the bad guy here. As if her family was so caring! Suddenly all her cares regarding her physical appearance evaporated. "I'm fine. I like it in Slytherin. People there don't judge." she spat. "Of course it would have helped if you guys didn't give looks of horror when I got sorted there. How do you think that made me feel? Like I was heading to the disease camp or something!"

"Hey Rose" Rose looked at Albus who had finally managed to look her in the eye. Rose whirled around to face him. "You! I promised you if you were in Slytherin, I would support you! Why can't you do the same for me? We are best friends!" Albus shook his head, "I'm sorry Rose" Rose stopped in the middle of her ranting and stared at her cousin whose eyes bored into hers. The sought only one thing: forgiveness. "I know I hurt your feelings and I admit I was wrong. The only reason why I got made was because I always imagined we'd sit next to each other for our first lesson at Hogwarts and instead you were next to... to... Malfoy!" he finally burst out. Mel and Sarah's mouths practically fell open. Albus was mad about Malfoy?

Rose stared at him. "Well of course I was sitting next to him, I didn't have a choice!" she cried out exasperated. "I know" Albus mumbled, kicking the ground. "I'm sorry Rosie. I didn't want to lose you. I thought you were gonna change. I didn't mean what I said." Rose looked from him to the rest of her family. "So... that's what you guys are afraid of. You think I'll get converted into some kind of mindless zombie who follows Voldemort and wears the dark mark..." she muttered. "No Rose!" James exclaimed. Rose shook her head. "Yes you do! You all do!" she pointed at them. "That's why you don't want to be in Slytherin. That's why you are afraid of the house, avoiding it like the plague. You think you'll become a psycho or something is that it!" Suddenly Molly burst out. "YES!" she screamed. "You know just as well as I do that they are all Voldemort loving crazing, sick minded psychopaths ROSE!" she screamed. The rest of the family whipped to face Molly. "It's true." she continued. "At least I have the guts to admit it!"

Rose nodded. "Yea at least she has the guts. I can't believe you guys would think that. I'm Rose! I'm still Rose!" she cried pointing to herself. Meanwhile Mel and Sarah decided that it was time to get Rose away before any more damage was cause. Indicating to the twins, the foursome hurried up to Rose. "Come on Rose lets' go" Mel soothed. "Yea come on Rose" Sarah whispered. The twins grabbed hold of Rose and began leading her away. But suddenly Rose whipped around and glared at her family. "Until you learn to trust me, maybe we shouldn't talk!" she screamed. "Trim me off like a disease. Keep that perfect family within Griffindor will you?" and then she was desperately dragged from the hall by her friends, leaving the Potters and Weasleys standing there ridiculously. No sooner had she left did the Hall arouse with murmurs and chatters, peopling wondering how the family squabble would turn out. Scorpius Malfoy who had been watching the entire argument, stared at them with a smirk on his face. Rose Weasely's outburst made him proud to be a Slytherin.


	6. Forgiving, not Forgetting

Rose sat on her bed hugging her pillow. After her emotional breakdown in the Hall, she felt she could never step into daylight again. The whole school had practically seen her scream her head off shouting at her family. It was a wonder she still has her voice and thank Merlin there hadn't been any teachers there... Mel, Sarah and the twins had literally dragged her from the Hall while she was still screaming insults all the way back to the Slytherin dungeons. She was glad she had friends like them. At least if she didn't have any sense, they did. They had now gone off, probably to the lake. She had told them that she needed her space and they agreed that they would leave her alone and come back for her when it was time for classes. But before they left, they made her promise not to start another screaming match with her family... yet. Reluctantly, she had agreed. It wasn't good for her throat, she reminded herself. She felt at a time like this, she should write to her parents. She had yet to send them any mail. She pulled out her quill and parchment and wrote:

Dear Mum and Dad,

I don't know whether you've heard yet from Al but I got into Slytherin. Yep that's right. I was pretty upset at first but everyone is so nice to me and I've made so many friends. Even Malfoy seems ok. Dad don't panic :) Things aren't going so well with Al. I had a shouting match with him at the end of Charms. Accused me of turning into a Slytherin and all that crap. Yea I know mum it's not polite... who cares? I shouted at him. He promised to support me and he turned against me.

Today the whole lot of them came and tried to talk to me. Molly called all Slytherins Voldemort followers and indirectly my entire family admitted that they think I'll end up like that which is why they were all afraid to be sorted into Slytherin. So that was shouting match no 2 though I doubt there will be another one. All I know is, I'm not talking to any one of them now. I know that's a bummer but I'm hurt. Apart from that everything's good. Classes are fine and even the common room isn't that bad. It's very... green. Hope Hugo's doing fine. Send Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny my love!

Love,

Rosie

Rose read over her letter. Yes it seemed acceptable. She quickly sealed it in an Envelope and scribbled her parent's address in green ink. Getting off her bed, she hurried out of the room and out of the common room. She climbed the stairs leading away from the dark dungeons and heading towards the owlrey. Opening the door, she found herself surrounded by dozens of owls. They all looked different, different, colours, sizes and shapes. "Athena!" she called. Suddenly she saw the family owl swoop out of nowhere, landing perfectly next to her. She chuckled and stroked the bird. "Do you think you could take this to Mum and Dad?" she asked the bird as it ruffled it's brown feathers. "Hoo?" it looked at her. She laughed, tying the letter to the owl's leg. "Go on" she murmured. The bird hooted. She was about to open the big oak door when suddenly the door opened and she was standing face to face to Albus Potter.

Athena who was of course oblivious to the drama that Rose had been experiencing this last week, took the opportunity and sailed out the door and off into the distance. Albus noticed this. "Letter back home?" he asked. "Yea" she mumbled. He nodded. "Erol!" he called. A snowy white owl swooped down from one of the beams and landed beside him. "Me too" he said turning to Rose holding up a letter. Rose felt ridiculous standing there. What was she meant to do anyway? She watched as Albus tied the letter to Erol and as the bird, like Athena, sailed out the door and off towards it's destination. "I should go..." she muttered. As she turned to leave, Albus grabbed her arm. She wheeled around and saw her cousin staring at her with the most intense look in his eyes.

"Let go of me Al..." she snapped half-heartedly.

"No" he murmured.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because I want to talk to you"

"I don't want to talk to you. Don't you remember?"

"Yes... I do. Rosie, I never knew you could scream so loudly."

At this Rose blushed furiously.

"Yea well..." she fumbled. "You guys deserved it."

"Yea we did." Albus murmured.

"So what is it then?" she asked again, irritated. She had class in less than 15 minutes.

"I want to tell you that I trust you."

"Huh?"

"Remember you said that until we trust you, you don't want to talk to us? I trust you."

Rose rubbed her head. She herself wasn't sure what she had said.

Albus continued, "I always knew that you weren't gonna change Rosie. I was just frustrated. That you weren't in Griffindor and I was expressing my own fears. I was wondering whether I would change if I were in Slytherin."

Rose rolled her eyes. "So it's all about you then"

"No!" Albus looked shocked. "Let's say I'm just insecure and I was experiencing my worst fears through you..."

Rose stared at him, her mouth twitching, "So it was about you."

Albus ran a hand through his hair. "Fine if you wanna put it that way..."

Rose laughed. How could she stay mad at Al? This was Al she was thinking about! He was messed up yes but still, he was her cousin, almost like her brother.

"Oh Al! I missed you!" Rose hugged her cousin, gripping him tightly.

Albus wrapped his arms around Rose and sighed, "I missed you too."

Pulling away from her he smiled, "Are we good then?"

Rose stared at him for a moment and shook her head.

"No we are not good."

Albus frowned. "But I thought..."

"I may have forgiven you Al, but I haven't forgiven the others. They still need to apologise. I am also peeved that just because you have a warped brain, with your experiences your fears with me or whatever, that you had to take out that anger and frustration on me. I have forgiven but I have yet to forget. Things between us are still not 100% ok..."

Albus stared at Rose. He knew he could not change her mind. "Will you ever forget? Will we ever go back to the way things were?" he asked her. What if they never did? he wondered to himself. Would he lose his best friend forever.

"That depends." Rose smiled. "I think I will... eventually. If you could learn to like Scorpius." she teased.

Albus' eyes narrowed. "Me be ok with a Malfoy? In your dreams!" he laughed.

Rose gave him a sad smile. "Then you'll be waiting a long while Al" and with that Rose fled down the stairs muttering something about getting to class. Watching her go, Albus wondered if she had been serious about the last part or not.


	7. Exploding Potions

Scorpius glanced around the potions classroom. It was remarkably quiet. None of the Slytherin girls were here. Most of the Raven claws were already there sitting and waiting with their books open. Suddenly he heard the sound of girls talking and he turned around to see the 5 of them stroll. Rose, looking much more composed than she about 30 minutes ago, smiled at him. Mel muttered something to Rose who stared at her, then nodded and walked towards him. "Hi" she smiled at him. "Weasley" he nodded at her. Rose made a small gesture towards the chair and he couldn't help but smirk. "No seat again Weasley?" he teased. Rose gasped and in an exaggerated manner look to and fro for a seat. The she turned back to him. "Well if you look at that!" he voice was laced with sarcasm, "No more seats. No fair!" she pouted at him. The corners of his mouth twitched.

Taking this as approval, she sat down.

"So what went down after the Great Hall Fiasco? You look happier." he asked her.

He had expected her to snap at him, saying it was none of his business but she surprised him.

"I made up with Albus." she stated.

He raised an eyebrow.

"Really? So soon? I thought you would hold out longer Weasley!" he said pretending to cover his hands to his mouth.

She smiled at his expression.

"Yea me too. I was in the owlrey and it just happened Told me he was sorry, that he never believed I would change and something about how he was living his worst fears through me or something through me..." she said not really wanting to explain.

"Woa. Sounds deep." Scorpius chuckled.

Rose nodded. "I told him I forgave him. I mean he's Al, I can't stay mad at him but that I'm still not ok with him."

"Why?"

"Because I haven't forgotten how he shouted at me. I need time just to get over that. Besides I'm making new friends, assimilating into a new environment, I won't have time to make up with him so quickly. I plan to spend time with him once in awhile and slowly, we'll build up to the friendship we used to have, where there was so much trust and dependence."

Scorpius nodded.

"Friendship isn't something you regain overnight." he commented.

Rose turned to him, surprised, "Yea... exactly. Same goes for my family. It's gonna take me awhile to put it all behind me, everything they said and all."

He nodded, "Yea I was there. Let me say I was honoured to be one of the key issues in your argument." smirking again.

Rose scoffed. "Coincidence Malfoy..."

"I'm just glad the girls got me out of there before I embarrassed myself any further." she continued.

Scorpius looked at her, "Yea you were kinda going ballistic. No offense, it was cool to watch but it was... scary."

Rose laughed, "Well at least you know what I'll be like if and when we fight."

Scorpius shuddered.

She laughed again.

"Yea I think you owe the girls big time." he added.

"Yea" Rose sighed more to herself than to Scorpius.

Just then Mel turned around from her seat and mouthed, "You okay?" to Rose. Rose smiled and nodded. It was good to know that someone was looking out for her. "Alright class shall we begin?" Professor LeerWood called out. "Yes" chimed the class. "Good" she stated. The Professor was the head of Slytherin house, as Rose had been told and was notoriously easy going on her Slytherin students. "Well class for today I just want to analyse some of your basic potions skills. This will be an individual task so please flip to page 3 of your books." The students all did so.

"Good now this is the brew you will make today. Grab your instruments from the cupboard and begin. You have one hour" she stated. Rose quickly scrolled down the recipe. The turned to her partner. "You get the instruments and I'll get the ingredients." Scorpius nodded. Soon the pair were both back at the table and were working quickly and efficiently. Well actually only Rose was working quickly and efficiently. Scorpius on the other hand seemed to be fumbling through the recipe. Rose chuckled to herself. And she had though Malfoy was an expert on Potions! Stirring her brew she noticed that Scorpius' had turned an odd shade of purple when it was actually meant to be green.

"Erm Scorpius..." she began. "Zip it!" he muttered, keeping his eyes on his work. "Suit yourself" mumbled Rose. This she knew, was not going to end well. Suddenly there was a loud "Kabooom!" that rocketed throughout the classroom. It sent shockwaves of heat in all directions. Rose knew it had come from Scorpius' cauldron. She slowly turned around and immediately burst out laughing. She couldn't help herself. The purple potion had splattered all over Scorpius. He looked like the purple bogey man. Even his blond hair was now spiked up and purple! It was the most ridiculous thing she had ever seen. The class turned to see what the commotion was all about and upon seeing Scorpius, they erupted into laughter. Scorpius groaned. "Rose, help!" Rose giggled and flicked her wand. The ugly purple potion seemed to evaporate off Scorpius. Professor LeerWood approached them. She smiled slightly looking at Scorpius' failed potion. "I think you might have forgotten the mayfly wings Mr Malfoy" she stated, pointing to the bright green wings still on Scorpius' table.

Rose was still grasping her stomach which was painful from all the laughing. She wasn't the only one. There were plenty of people still throwing Scorpius amused looks. He groaned inwardly. People might never let this go. As the Professor approached Rose's table she straightened up. "Excellent brew, Miss Weasley. I dare say, almost perfect. Mr Malfoy!" Scorpius looked up at the Professor. "You could learn a thing or two from your partner here." she chuckled. Scorpius looked at Rose who was still giggling. "Yes Professor" he nodded. Moving away from the table, Professor LeerWood strode to the front of the classroom. "I hope" she said addressing the whole class this time, "that you enjoyed working today. Before you leave I will examine all your potions and grade them accordingly." she threw Scorpius an amused look. Scorpius in retaliation, looked at the floor sheepishly. "Oh and one more thing." she smiled. "Let's hope you all got on today because these people sitting next to you will be your working partners for the rest of the year."

At this there were some cheers and groans. Rose, was in between, speechless. Scorpius looked at her with a cheeky look on his face. He had to be honest, he was relieved. At least now he was under the tutelage of a potions genius. "Gonna be quite a year with me as your potions partner eh Weasley?" he asked her. Rose looked at him for a second and began laughing. Somehow she still couldn't get the image of a purple Scorpius out of her mind. "Yea well at least I'll always be here to clean you up after your next greatest disaster." With that she grabbed her things and hurried towards her friends.


	8. First Flight

"Rose! Are you excited?" Sarah was practically jumping up and down. Rose threw her friend a bemused look. "Yes of course but I'm not going crazy like you..." Sarah shook her head. "I can't help it. I love flying!" she giggled twirling around. Mel smacked Sarah.

"Earth to Sarah Hello?" she called laughing

"Hey!" Sarah pouted.

They all rolled their eyes at her. Laughing, Sarah ran ahead towards the pitch.

"What about you guys? You excited about the first flying lesson?" Rose asked the twins.

Anna nodded but Claire seemed nervous.

"I'm into flying but Claire's afraid of heights." she explained.

Rose slung her arm around Claire. "Don't worry Claire. We'll be right next to you."

Claire gulped and smiled. "Thanks Rose!"

They soon found themselves on the pitch where Madame Hooch was waiting for her students. Sarah was waiting for them, tapping her foot impatiently. Rose noticed that the Griffindor first years were there too. Seeing Albus she waved to him. He smiled and waved back. Things had been getting better with her family. She felt her relationship with Al was almost back to normal. James too. Several of her other cousins she was still wary like Dominique and Roxanne but she most definitely had not forgiven Molly. They still hadn't spoken since the Great Hall outburst. Hurrying over to Al, he put an arm round Rose's shoulder. "Nervous Rosie?" he chuckled. She laughed

"As if I'd be nervous about flying!"

Albus smiled, "I just thought you might be intimidated by me."

"Please, we all know I am way better than you!"

"Way better than who?" came a new voice

Rose turned around and saw Scorpius striding towards them. She felt Albus stiffen but he said nothing.

"Hi" she smiled at him.

"We were just comparing Quiditch skills." Albus murmured.

"Oh" Scorpius replied.

Rose stared between the two boys. Even though she and Albus were ok now, he still wasn't into the whole Malfoy friendship thing. For Rose it was incredibly awkward when the both of them tried to talk to her at the same time. They just had two really different personalities. It seemed impossible to find something they had in common to talk about, apart from Quiditch. Thankfully, Claire came to her rescue.

"Er Rose sorry but can you give me some pointers about you... overcoming my fear."

Rose smiled at Claire, never feeling so relived.

"Sure." she nodded to the boys, "See you guys later."

Scorpius muttered something about joining his friends and Albus said something about getting his broom and "Poof!" they were gone.

"Sorry I think I interrupted your conversation." Claire apologised.

Rose shook her head, "No you saved me."

Claire threw her a confused look but said nothing.

"Alright class gather around!" Madame Hooch called. The first years quickly huddled around their teacher. "Has everyone got their brooms?"

"Yes" they called in response.

Madame Hooch nodded.

"Good. Now I want you to stand alongside the brooms, place your hands over them and firmly state, UP!" she continued.

The first years did as they were told.

"UP!" Rose called. She was surprised to see it fly straight into her hand.

Scorpius and Albus were equally successful. However Claire's broom was a little less eager and slowly rose wobbling into her hand.

Seeing that the class was ready, Madame Hooch proceeded.

"Good now I want you to mount the brooms. One my whistle, kick of the ground, hover for a moment and then lean forward, to touch down again."

Again they did as they were told. Rose confidently kicked her heels and suddenly she felt the rush of adrenaline as the broom rose of the ground. Watching Albus who was standing opposite her, the two grinned at one another. She watched at Claire hesitantly sat on her broom but refused to kick her heels.

"Come on Claire!" she called.

"Rose, I don't think I can do it..." she mumbled.

"Trust me." she said smiling at her friend, "Kick your heels."

Claire took a deep breath and kicked her heels. There was a look of panic on her face as the broom rose of the ground. But she smiled when she realised she was merely hovering. Rose smiled, "You see, it's not so bad right?" she asked her. Claire threw Rose an appreciative look but still seemed to be gripping on to her broom handle. Slowly, all of them leaned forward and they touched down again.

"Very good class!" Madame Hooch called out, looking pleased.

The students looked around, pretty pleased with themselves as well.

"Now" she continued. "I know some of you already know how to fly, some being more advanced than others. So for the fun of it, all those who know how to fly, please step forward."

Rose proudly stepped forward along with a handful of students that included Albus, Sarah and Scorpius. Sarah of course was brimming with enthusiasm.

Madame Hooch nodded.

"Good well how about a quick race then?"

The students glanced at each other with excitement.

Madame Hooch counted the students. "Let's see there are 8 of you here so we'll split, 4 and 4."

She then proceeded to split the group into half.

Madame Hooch looked at them.

"Now you will start here on the pitch, race the the entrance, circle the statue and return back here. Remember this is just a friendly race..." she eyed the Slytherins, "No pushing or shoving or it is likely you'll find yourself suspended. Am I clear?" her tone had suddenly become very serious. The students nodded solemnly. Madame Hooch's face lightened up.

"Good, so take your positions then!" she called.

Rose was in the second group. She watched as Albus and Mel took their places at the start line. Scorpius was in her group. Two other Griffindors were beside them. There was anticipation in the air as all the students huddled around, cheering them on. Despite her fear of flying, even Claire was excited, cheering Mel on.

Rose cheered, "Go Al! Go Mel!"

Scorpius didn't cheer but merely stated to Rose, "This should be fun."

"On my whistle then!" Madame Hooch called.

Everyone leaned forward.

"Ready, set, WHEEE!" Madame Hooch's whistle sounded and the four racers whizzed pass Rose in a flash. She felt the huge gust of air blowing towards her.

"Go Al!" she cheered as her cousin raced towards Hogwarts. Sarah was not far behind. She was a decent flyer, Rose thought to herself.

Everything was happening so quickly, by now they had circled the statue and were already heading back towards them with Al and Sarah neck and neck!

Rose's heart was pounding, it was so exciting!

Scorpius on the other hand didn't seem excited at all. The only way Rose could tell he was showing any interest was that he was leaning forward staring, intently on the racers.

Rose couldn't tell who was about to win, maybe it would be a tie!

They whizzed past the finish line and Madame Hooch's whistle blew.

"Good race!" she called. "A tie between Mr Potter and Miss Paddington!" she called.

Rose cheered. "It was a tie between Al and Sarah!"

She rushed forward to hug the pair, whose faces were flushed and their hair, out of place. Sarah was laughing and Al was breathing deeply. It took a while to reach them since they were surrounded by classmates, offering their congratulations. "Congrats!" she ran up to them and hugged them tightly. "You both raced really well." she told them. Sarah smiled. "Thanks Rose." Albus nodded, "Yea thanks Rosie. Good race." he said turning to face Sarah. She nodded in approval. "Yea thanks, you too." she took his hand. Rose smiled. "Well at least you can get along with Sarah." she stated pointedly to Albus who flushed slightly. Changing the subject Sarah tapped Rose on the shoulder, "Hey your race is starting." Rose's eyes widened. "Oh yea!" she cried and hurried over to the starting line, grabbing her broom along the way.

She quickly mounted her broom and stood next to Scorpius. He was wearing his signature smirk again. "Ready to lose Weasley?" he asked her. She scoffed. "In your dreams Malfoy!" she chuckled.

"Ready?" Madame Hooch called.

All four riders nodded. On the other side of Rose was Greg Goyle and Leo Zabini. They smiled at her encouragingly. Suddenly she realised she was the only girl in this race.

"All the more reason to win." she muttered to herself.

"On my whistle, Ready set..."

Rose heard the whistle and took of at full speed.

She couldn't be bothered to look to her left and right to see if the others were keeping up. It was suddenly just her and the broom. She felt wave upon wave of exhilarating adrenaline crash over her body, her heart pounding and her mind whirring. She hadn't flown this fast since the family Quiditch match over 3 months ago. But she hardly felt rusty or out of touch. In fact it was as if she had never stopped.

She was approaching the statue now. Remembering what James had taught her about making corners, she tilted the broom ever so slightly, gracefully curving around the statue. As she turned she saw she had quite a lead on Zabini and Goyle but Malfoy was just behind her! Rose smiled. This was what she wanted, a race to the finish with Malfoy. To see the look on his face when she won! She picked up speed, zooming in front of him. She was home free now, flying faster and faster towards the crowd. her hair was whipping in the wind, her teeth were almost chattering. She couldn't even imagine what the state of her robes were. The wind was pounding on her like hail and her eyes were scrunched and she was squinting the suddenly, it was over. She had sped past the finish line and as she heard the whistle blow, she felt a warm feeling in her stomach. The feeling of accomplishment.

Now as she landed, she saw her classmates racing towards her, smiling, cheering for her. "Miss Weasley wins!" Madame Hooch cried with an impressed expression on her face. Sarah rushed towards her, eyes widened.

"Rose! I had no idea you could fly so well! You were amazing!" she cheered.

Albus was next, practically jumping on top of her, enveloping her in a hug.

"Good job Rosie!" he cheered, "You beat Malfoy" he whispered in her ear a little sadistically.

Rose laughed. She saw Mel and the twins hurrying over too.

"You were awesome Rose!" they cheered.

Mel laughed, "You looked like you were Harry Potter!"

Rose blushed at the compliment.

"Well you guys were really good too!" she said turning to Al and Sarah.

"Thanks." they smiled.

"Hey Weasley!"

Rose turned around to see Scorpius striding towards her. He didn't look angry, just neutral.

"Yea" she asked him.

He cocked his head and the corners of his mouth turned up, "Good job"

Rose's face lit up.

"Thanks Scorpius. You flew well too."

He nodded and smirked, "Well I thought I'd let you win this time since you are a girl and all, trust me, next time, you won't get so lucky."

Rose folded her arms. "you weren't the only one going easy on someone today"

"Ohhh!" the other first years laughed and cheered at the thought that Rose's performance on the pitch had not been her best.

"It's true!" Albus laughed, "What she did was nothing!"

Scorpius smirked again.

"Well I guess time will tell whose the better flyer."

Eventually it was time to head back to classes. Rose was grabbing her things when suddenly she heard someone call out to her. Turning, she saw Madame Hooch beckoning her with her finger. She hurried over.

"Yes Madame Hooch?" she asked.

Madame Hooch looked at her. "You're Weasley aren't you?"

Rose nodded.

She smiled, "You flying on the pitch today was very impressive. I would like to recommend you to join the Slytherin Quiditch team."

Rose's eyes widened. "But first years can't..."

Madame Hooch waved her off. "I believe you are a very gifted flyer and it would be a shame not to see you fly until next year. I will speak to you Quiditch Captain for approval first. If you are allowed for tryouts, then you may refer to the Quiditch board for the scheduled dates." she finished.

Rose nodded, slightly shocked. She couldn't believe this was happening!

"Dismissed" Madame Hooch said.


	9. Caving in

Dear Rosie,

We are glad that things with Albus have cleared up. I told you it would blow over right?Regarding the Quiditch drama, it doesn't matter that you got turned down for the team. Probably the captain, whoever they are, feels that as a first year, you still need to assimilate into school life and Quiditch may just add more pressure than necessary. Personally I agree with that viewpoint dear. When your Uncle Harry got accepted in his first year, he barely had time for his work. It's always good to prioritize. But I'm sure that if they had let you try out for the team, you would have gotten in. Of course you father is ranting about how if your were Griffindor they would have let you on the team but I wouldn't worry about that too much dear. You know your father and I are still proud of you, Griffindor or not.

With the exams coming up we hope that you're studying hard. Your father has asked me to remind you to "destroy Scorpius Malfoy" but I think that might be a rather extreme course of action. All the very best for the mid-term exams and make us and yourself proud! Your brother would like you to know that he is eagerly awaiting your return home.

All our love,

Mum, Dad and Hugo

Rose smiled at the letter. Letters from home always seemed to make her feel better. It was true. She hadn't made the Quiditch team. It was a good thing she hadn't told anyone about it either. It would have been much too embarrassing to tell everyone she had been denied the opportunity to even attend the try outs! But then what was she? Only Rose Weasley, nothing special. Her mother was right. She had to set her priorities this year. That meant no distractions, not even Quiditch. She would get them next year, she thought, smiling to herself. For now, she would be content just watching the matches.

Tucking the letter away in her drawers, Rose made her way down to the Great Hall. It was unusually quiet. But Rose was hardly surprised. After all there were exams going on. Most people were either off in the library studying or having one to one sessions with their Professors. Rose had been studying for weeks now and this afternoon was the day of her DADA exam. Yet this morning she had slept in a little. She planned to have breakfast alone, then take a short walk to clear her mind. While others were trying to cram in last minute revision, Rose felt it pointless to stress, especially on the day of the exam. After all, she had done her work. To get herself focused, Rose had always found, "self time" very helpful. Sitting herself down at the Slytherin table, Rose glanced around to see if there was anyone she knew there.

As far as she could tell, there were no first years around. They were probably all revising. Sighing to herself, she grabbed a couple of slices of toast and eggs and tucked into her breakfast. Since there wasn't anyone to talk to, she got through it pretty quickly. Once she was done she decided, as planned, to head to the lake. The lake was one of the few places in Hogwarts that she really enjoyed visiting. It seemed to put her mind at ease and it distracted her from her work at hand. She also liked the water. Not swimming in it, but the appearance, how it represented something unknown and mysterious, something fluid and ever changing. She liked the idea of it.

It was a cool day and Rose hugged herself to keep warm. The sun was shining though and the dark surface of the lake glistened from the rays that dappled on the water. Rose breathed deeply and sat down beside the lake. She was soon lying down on the grass, her fingers running through the soft green blades. She closed her eyes and thought. These past few weeks had been so stressful. She had barely had any time to socialise partly because of her determination to excel in every subject and partly to avoid distraction. While she missed the company of her friends, she knew it would all be worth it in the end. It was just today, then a Potions exam tomorrow and she was done! She couldn't wait till then but for now, her mind had to stay in the present. It had been a good decision to come to the lake. All this time to do some personal reflection had helped her to unwind.

Rose smiled slightly as the gentle breeze blew across her face but shivered a moment later. She opened her eyes and saw that the sun was hidden by ominous looking rain clouds. "I better get in" she thought to herself, standing up to leave. Suddenly she saw someone, a figure sitting only a few metres away from herself, staring into the murky depths of the water. Whoever it was seemed very lost and focused on the water. Rose suddenly heard the rumbling of thunder. Should she call the stranger? Yes she should.

"Hello?" she called out.

There was no response.

"I think it's going to rain" she felt ridiculous stating the obvious.

Still no response.

"I think you better come in, exams and all, you don't want to catch a cold." she warned.

There was no response.

"Hello?" she called again.

Suddenly the person seemed to have snapped out of their trance. They looked up. Rose caught her breath. Grey eyes met brown.

"Scorpius?" she called, half shouting over the sound of thunder.

She saw Scorpius get up and approach her. For a moment she just stood there, still, not knowing what to do. His usual slick hair was ruffled and unkempt. His tie was hanging, loosely from his shirt. His shirt was tucked out of his pants. But the worst part was his eyes. There were great eye bags under them and they looked dull, like all the life had been sucked from them. Scorpius looked like a man of seventy who had seen the worst parts of life, not a strapping eleven year old. As he reached her, she just stood there, trying to absorb what she was looking at. He, in response, stared at her back. Both seemed oblivious to the increasingly bad weather.

"Are you alright?" she choked out.

Scorpius was just staring at her, blankly.

Rose felt uncomfortable and rubbed her neck. "Erm..." she began

Scorpius blinked and seemed to come back to Earth. HIs eyes suddenly lit up. Like a renewed spark. He immediately seemed conscious of his physical appearance and began to slick back his hair.

"We should go in..." Rose mumbled.

Scorpius, who was still adjusting his hair nodded, "Quite right Weasley."

The two silently and hurriedly headed back to the castle and just in time as well for just as they arrived, it began to pour down. By now Scorpius had adjusted his hair and was now straightening his tie. The difference, Rose noted, was astonishing.

Rose chuckled, "Glad we missed that"

Scorpius just nodded.

She looked at him closely. He seemed rather disconcerted at this and shuffled his feet. But he still threw her a smirk.

"Are you sure you're ok?" she asked him again.

Then she saw something in his eyes, it was resignation.

"Pressure's getting to me I guess. I don't wanna screw up." he mumbled.

Rose was surprised. Malfoy hardly gave any indication that he was under any form of stress. In fact in the days leading up to the exams, he had been boasting about how utterly confident he was feeling.

"Your family?" she asked.

He shook his head, "Not just them. From me as well."

Rose raised an eyebrow. "You put pressure on yourself?" she asked.

"Don't you?" he suddenly snapped.

Rose was taken aback.

Scorpius seemed to realise what he had done. "Sorry" he mumbled.

"You're not the only one feeling the pressure. And hey, we are only in first year now, imagine what it's be like when we do our NEWTS..." she murmured, trying to lighten the mood.

Scorpius seemed to gaze at her for a moment. In that moment Rose felt it, a bond, that singular link that joined arrogant little Scorpius and her together. They were both afraid to disappoint and thirsty to succeed. In that one look, Rose understood that both of them would do anything, to get what they wanted and if that meant being driven insane by all the pressure, then so be it. She suddenly realised, they were, in a warped way, so alike. Both of them were like pressure cookers, building and building up until finally they had to release it somehow or they would breakdown.

"Why were you at the lake?" he asked her.

"It calms me" she replied.

He turned to her in surprise. "Me too" he seemed to say.

"Oh" Rose didn't know how to respond.

"I guess we all have our coping mechanisms" she continued.

He nodded.

"It'll be ok." she told him.

He smirked. "Easy for you to say, top of class."

She laughed, "Well your second only to me!"

He smiled at this. It was the first time she had truly seen him smile.

She gently placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it.

At this he pulled away. "Watch yourself Weasley" he sneered playfully and turned to go.

"Hey Scorpius" Rose called out.

Scorpius turned back.

"Good luck" she smiled.

His face seemed to light up at this but he merely nodded, "Good luck... Rose."


	10. Heading Home

"I can't believe it's the end of our first year!" Anna exclaimed as the Slytherin girls boarded the Hogwarts Express. Rose laughed. She couldn't believe it either. The year had gone by way too quickly. Was it only yesterday that she had faced the pressure of mid-year exams and then the final exams? She couldn't wait to start school again in September. But for now her thoughts were elsewhere. She just for now, couldn't wait to get back home!

"Hey Rose!" suddenly Rose felt herself drawn back to Earth by someone shouting her name.

"Rose!" Mel cried out again, this time louder.

"Huh yea?" Rose glanced at her friend who wore a bemused expression on her face.

She folded her arms and glanced around at the rest of the girls who were all looking at her.

"What?" she whined.

Sarah laughed, "Oh Rose you looked so funny. You were like in dream land or something. Your eyes were clouded over and your mind looked kind of faraway..."

At this point Sarah impersonated a "dreamy looking Rose" and everyone excluding Rose burst out laughing.

"Well excuse me for being excited to getting back home..." Rose muttered.

Claire, still grasping her stomach sighed, "Oh Rose you know we were just teasing." she said chuckling.

Rose couldn't help but smile. For all their flaws, the girls could always make her smile. "Yea" she giggled.

"Now let's find a compartment!" Mel announced and Rose realised they were all still standing in the hallway of the train, much to the disdain of several other students, trying to get onboard.

The girls, still laughing managed to find an empty compartment and they quickly hurried in. Rose threw herself on the seat nearest to the window. Glancing out, she watched as people quickly hurried onto the train, dropping off their luggage along the way. Suddenly she caught a glimpse of Hagrid. She smiled. He had been so sweet to her this year, dropping off little treats for her when she stopped by and he had baked a cake for her birthday. Swallowing any sense of self-consciousness, she opened the compartment window and stuck her head out.

"Hagrid!" she called out, waving her hand towards him.

She saw his head turn and his face lit up when he saw her.

Walking over towards her, she smiled at him.

"Ready to go' eh Rose?" he asked her.

She nodded.

Hagrid smiled.

"Well er, hv'e a gd hol'day" he continued.

She nodded again, "I will Hagrid. Bye"

Hagrid's eyes fogged up slightly.

"Ah twas like ysterday yo'r folks were telling me th't" he smiled.

Rose leaned out of the window as much as possible and enveloped him in a great hug.

Surprised at first, Hagrid hugged her back, she could hear him stifle a sniffle.

"I'll see you soon" she murmured.

He nodded as they broke apart and gripped her hand tightly.

"Yo'r a special gal Rose" he smiled.

Suddenly Rose heard the train whistle blow. Suddenly she felt panicked. She didn't want to go! Rose felt the wheels beginning to move but she did not let go of Hagrid's hand as the train began to pull out of the station. "Goodbye!" she called to him as she was finally forced to let go. "Bye!" Hagrid called back, waving to her as the train began to move faster and faster. Rose waved, almost as frantically as she had when she took her first ever train to Hogwarts. She saw Hagrid's smile and she smiled back. His face became blurrier by the second. Then the white steam from the train began to billow around her forcing her to close the window. She sat back down again sighing, leaving Hagrid and Hogwarts behind.

She looked up to see her friends smiling at her encouragingly. "Don't worry" Sarah said squeezing her hand. "We'll be back next year." Rose nodded. "So" Mel said, lightening the mood, "What are you guys up to this summer?" she asked. Anne and Claire suddenly became excited and began to chat about their upcoming trip to Romania. "No Way!" Rose exclaimed. She knew her Uncle worked in Romania but her parents told her that they would only take her and Hugo when they were older. "That's not fair!" she pouted. The twins laughed. "Hey don't worry Rose," Claire smiled. "Yea" Anna chimed in. "I'm sure you'll get to go next year." Rose smiled. "Well I better!" she playfully threatened the twins.

"So what are you doing Rose?" Sarah asked her.

Rose thought for a moment.

"Well I don't think we are going anywhere..." she began. "Mum and Dad didn't mention a trip."

Sarah nodded. "Well at least then you'll have loads of free time on your hands."

Rose laughed, "Yea I don't know how I'll spend it all! I'll probably waste my days away playing Quiditch!"

At the mention of Quiditch, Sarah's face lit up. "Yea!" she cried. "I think I'll do a little practicing. Promise you'll try out with me for the team next year?" she begged Rose.

Rose cringed slightly remembering her rejection from Quiditch this year but managed to hide it from her friends. She wouldn't appear to be weak in front of them. If she was, she would have to explain the entire saga to them which she wasn't in the mood to do. Instead she smiled at her friend.

"Yea of course!"

Sarah's hopeful face was now full fledged excitement. "Great!" she cried. "We need to practice. We need to coordinate. We need to..." before she could continue Mel stopped her.

"Whoa, slow down there Sarah! The tryouts aren't for at least 6 months! Don't pressure Rose." she chuckled.

Sarah looked at her glumly. "I was only trying to be enthusiastic... " she mumbled.

Anna smirked. "Yea we kind of got that vibe"

The rest of the girls burst out laughing.

Rose taking pity on Sarah, tried to salvage the conversation.

"Yea well it's ok Sarah. I mean we can practice at my place at stuff" she murmured.

Sarah acknowledging her efforts, smiled at her. "yea" she said.

"Just write to me and let me know when you're free. Then we set a date." Rose continued.

"Ok" Sarah nodded.

"In fact" Rose continued. "I should invite you all for a day at my place."

The girls all perked up at this suggestion.

"I'll just ask my parents for permission, then I'll owl you guys a date and time." Rose suggested.

"Yea!" Mel smiled. "That would be great to meet up in the holidays Rose. Plus I haven't seen your house." she added with a twinkle in her eyes.

The twins nodded. "Yea it would be nice. Just to let you know though, we won't be around for the first month because of Romania."

Rose nodded, mentally recording the information down. "Ok then." she stated.

The rest of the train ride was relatively uneventful. Rose fell asleep halfway through the journey after eating one too many of Bertie Botts every flavour beans. In fact she didn't realise how long she had dozed off for until she was being shaken awake by Sarah. "get up Rose" Sarah had muttered with excitement in her voice. "We're here!" Instantly, Rose had risen from her slumber and had glanced out the window. Sure enough, the train had come to a halt and there was platform 9 and 3/4 with hordes of parents waiting there for their children. Excited, Rose got up from her seat and followed the other girls out of the cabin.

People were pushing and shoving, especially the older students, to get off the train, everyone eager to see their families again. Rose tried to stick close to her friends and eventually they all managed to scramble of the train. The immediately went to grab their luggage and Rose was careful not to forget anything, gripping the bird cage with Athena inside. The owl, upon seeing her owner, had hooted in pleasure. Rose turned around to glance at her friends.

"Well" she began. "I guess this is goodbye?"

"Don't make it sound so sentimental Rose!" Mel exclaimed but her voice was thick with emotion.

Sarah didn't say anything. Instead she hurried over to Rose and gave her a huge hug. "Bye" she muttered. "I'm going to miss you"

The twins sighed. "Group Hug!" they called.

Instantly the rest of the girls were surrounding Rose and she felt all of their warmth and friendship surrounding her. She felt utterly at home.

Pulling away, Rose felt tears in her eyes.

"Only a couple of months." she reminded them.

They nodded.

Suddenly Rose heard someone call her name. She turned to see her parents waiting several metres away, waving to her.

"I gotta go" she told them.

"Bye!" they called.

She waved to them one last time, memorising their faces, before she turned and began to wheel her luggage towards her parents. Seeing her parent's faces, she smiled and as she pushed her luggage, she seemed to break into a half run. The next thing she knew, she was in her parents arms. She was laughing and crying at the same time. True she had seen them at Christmas but this time, it was completely different. She felt different coming home and she was glad that her parents were still waiting there for her, unchanged.

"Oh Rosie!" she felt her mother breath as she hugged her.

"I missed you" Rose whispered.

Her father gripped her tightly. "We missed you too precious."

Pulling away she saw her brother standing shyly in the background. She laughed. "Come her Hugo" she called.

Her brother suddenly was running towards her, enveloping her in a hug.

After a moment he seemed to realise who he was hugging and pulled away awkwardly.

"We're glad to have you home Rosie" her mother smiled.

"We're glad you topped your year." Ron smirked titling his head towards Scorpius Malfoy and his family.

Rose followed his gaze and her eyes met Scorpius'

The corners of his mouth turned up slightly and he raised his hand, as if to say, "Bye Weasley."

She smiled and raised her hand in response.

Then she looked back to her family.

They had not caught her exchange with Scorpius. Her mother was lecturing her father about teaching their children humility and Hugo was laughing.

Smiling at them, Rose linked arms with her parents, who stopped their fighting and gazed down at her.

Rose looked at them and sighed. "It's good to be home."


	11. Betting on Hugo

"Come on Hugo!" Rose Weasley was dragging her younger brother onto the Hogwarts Express. Hugo, was still trying to say his last minute goodbyes to their parents. Rose had smirked at him. He reminded her so much of how she had been during her first year. "Come on!" she said dragging him now as their mother enveloped him in hug after hug. Rose had said all her goodbyes already. "Mum! You're gonna make us late!" she whined. Her mother seemed to snap out a trance.

Straightening up she smiled. "Yes quite right dear. Now have you gotten everything?'

"Yes"

"Your books?"

"Yes"

"Your wand?"

"Yes"

"Athena?"

"Yea"

"Your..."

"Mum!" Rose cried again.

Maybe this was why she was in Slytherin, she thought to herself. While she did her work and everything, Rose had always taken a more laid back approach to life than her mother, deal with it as it comes attitude, she called it. So what if she forgot her book? She'd share. So what if she hadn't brought enough robes? She'd reuse. There was, in Rose's mind, a solution to any problem. Her mother sighed.

"Alright, I'm just double checking" she smiled at her children.

Rose sighed with relief as her father came to the rescue.

"Give it a rest Mione!" he exclaimed, running his fingers through his hair.

Rose's mother gave him a sharp look but quickly turned back to her children to give them one last smiled.

"Right! Off you go then!" she called.

Rose grabbed her sentimental brother's hand and got on the train.

"Bye!" she smiled and waved to her parents.

Unlike last year, she didn't have that sickening feeling in her stomach as the train whistle blew. Because she knew this year, she was going back to something. Once they were on the train, she turned to her brother. "I'm going to find my friends. You wanna come?" she asked him. Her brother smiled and shook his head. "Nah it's ok Rosie. I'm going to go hang out with Lily." Rose's cousin Lily, Albus' and James' sister, was also starting her first year at Hogwarts. Rose nodded understandingly. "Well see you at the feast!" she called to her brother who nodded back and with that she turned and left to find her friends.

Rose began to search the compartments for her friends. She couldn't wait to see them again. Much to the pleasure of Rose, when they had all visited over the holidays, they had been charming to her parents and with their help, she had effectively convinced her father that the Slytherin girls were wonderful people. Her mother, needed no persuasion. Suddenly she heard their familiar voices coming from a nearby compartment. Opening the door, she saw all her four friends, sprawled on the seats, laughing and talking to one another.

"The fun has arrived!" Rose proclaimed pointing to herself.

All the girls looked up.

"Rose!" Mel jumped up and hugged Rose ferociously.

"Hi Mel" Rose choked from almost being strangled.

The twins were next. They slung their arms around Rose. "What's happening Rose?" they asked her.

Rose laughed. "Nothing... till now!"

Finally Sarah came up and gave her a warm hug. Rose smiled. Over the holidays, Sarah had become, probably her best friend. They had spent many days practicing for Quiditch together and now were extremely close. Rose had even been invited to Sarah's house and had met her parents. Like Sarah, Rose had concluded, the Paddingtons were extremely warm and accepting people. Even her mother had agreed, that out of all the girls, she liked Sarah the best.

"Hiya Rose" she smiled.

"Hey Sarah!" Rose hugged her bag and smiled too.

Sitting herself between the twins, Rose looked at her friends. They all looked different. The twins, she had noticed, had longer faces. Their chubby cheeks now looked, leaner, the features more pronounced. Mel had added highlights to her hair, light blond highlights. And Sarah had grown chopped off her long locks and was sporting a short cut with bangs. In fact as Rose looked at them, she realised she was the only one who hadn't changed.

The next thing Rose knew, the train whistle blew for the final time and they were off, heading out towards Hogwarts. The girls chatted eagerly all the way there and Rose was overflowing with excitement by the time they reached the castle. Rushing up the stairs to the Great Hall, Rose eagerly took her seat amongst the other second years. Sarah sat on her left whilst Mel and the twins sat opposite them.

Over towards the sixth years she spotted Katie who smiled and waved. Rose in response, waved back. She waited in anticipation for the first years to arrive. She could imagine Professor Longbottom giving Hugo the same speech she had been given a year ago. She chuckled at the thought. Her friends, engrossed in conversation, didn't notice. Suddenly she felt someone lightly punch her right shoulder and sit down beside her.

Rose spun around to see Scorpius smirking at her.

"Hey Weasley" he said cheerfully.

It was Rose's turn to smirk

"Malfoy" she nodded.

Suddenly she saw Leo and Greg hurrying over and taking their seats beside Scorpius.

"Leo, Greg" she said acknowledging them.

"Hiya Rose" they smiled at her before engaging in their own conversation.

"So" Scorpius drawled. "How was your holidays?"

Rose smiled. "Ok. Played some Quiditch."

"Training up so you can beat me Weasley?" he asked.

Rose laughed. "I don't have to. I've already beaten you!"

"So are you gonna try out for the team?" he pushed.

She nodded. "Yea definitely."

"What position?"

"Beater"

He looked at her with surprise.

"What?" she asked him.

He shook his head. "Nothing, it's just I was going out for beater too..."

Rose looked surprised. She never imagined Scorpius playing that position. "Well who knows? Maybe we'll make the team together."

He smirked. "Yea... maybe."

Just then the doors of the Great Hall opened and Professor Longbottom walked in, followed by the first years. Rose caught a glimpse of her brother and Lily, standing side by side, gripping each others hands. They reminded her of how Albus had gripped her hand on the day of their sorting. At that moment she caught Albus' eye from across the Hall and he smiled at her, thinking the exact same thing. Suddenly, Hugo spotted her and gave her a shy wave. Rose smiled encouragingly at her brother and waved back. She felt Scorpius' eyes on her. She turned to glance at him.

"Your brother?" he asked.

She just nodded.

He raised his eyebrow but said nothing.

"What?' she asked, annoyed at his silence.

"I bet a galleon that he won't be in Slytherin."

She chuckled at this. Honestly, betting on where her brother would be sorted? But she shook her head. "I know he'll be in Griffindor" she muttered.

Scorpius looked at her. "Fine I bet a galleon that he won't be in Slytherin or Griffindor."

Rose smiled. "You're on!" she couldn't believe that she was doing this!

They watched patiently as student after student was sorted into their houses. Rose cheered as Lily was sorted into Griffindor. Lily had thrown her a smile from the Griffindor table and Rose, had given her a thumbs up. Scorpius began to grumble that it was taking forever but Rose merely laughed. Sarah tapped Rose's shoulder. "Where do you think Hugo will go?" she asked her. "Griffindor" Rose replied without hesitation. Sarah nodded. Scorpius hearing this, scoffed. Rose shook her head. "You wait and see Malfoy"

Just then the Hall fell silent once again Professor Longbottom prepared to call the next name. "Hugo Weasley!" he called out. Rose held her breath as her brother approached the stage. She could see the tension and worry on his face as he sat himself on the stool and as the hat was placed on his head. After a pause that seemed like an eternity the hat finally called out, "GRIFFINDOR!" Rose smiled with satisfaction as she heard Scorpius groan. Sarah patted her on the back as if to say, "Hey you were right.". "Go Hugo!" she called out, standing up to cheer for her brother as the Hall resounded with applause. Her brother turned to face his sister and waved happily to her before sitting down at the Griffindor table.

Before they had left for Hogwarts the siblings had made a pact that no matter what house Hugo was in, Rose would cheer him on and love him no matter what. Hugo in exchange would always be there to support his sister. In a strange way, Rose was glad that Hugo wasn't in Slytherin. He after all, relished being a part of their large family, unlike her. The many relatives that would surround him in Griffindor would keep him firmly on the ground. Rose would not need to worry about keeping him in check. Plus she kind of enjoyed being the odd one out. She felt her being in Slytherin set her apart, in a league of her own and somehow she didn't want Hugo to join that league. But she could think about all of that later. For now all she could do was turn to the blond haired boy beside her and smile.

"I think someone owes me a galleon"


	12. Quidditch

A year ago, Rose would have never dreamt of what she was doing now. Even as she was running down the pitch, she felt like vomiting at the thought of it. She, Rose Weasley, was actually chasing after Scorpius Malfoy. What a sick thought, Rose shuddered. But it wasn't as if she was chasing after him, by himself. No, she was also chasing after Sarah. Today was a very important day. The day of the Quiditch tryouts! She had been waiting for this for weeks, dreaming and doodling in class. And now the day had come! Clinging tightly to the Fire-bolt 6000, her parents had sent her via owl a couple of weeks ago, Rose panted as she tried to catch up with her friends. Rose remembered clearly the moment when she had gotten her broom. They had been having lunch in the Great Hall.

Rose had been chatting with the girls about class and homework. Professor Flitwick had given them a charms essay to write and nobody was sure what to write about. Mostly because they hadn't been listening in class. Rose, had been offering essay topic suggestions. Suddenly she had heard the flutter of wings overhead and had glanced up just in time to see Athena release a rather bulky looking package onto the table. It had landed with a loud "Clang!" Rose recalled how everyone had looked around in interest and how Sarah had excitedly told her to open it. "Yea open it Weasley" Scorpius had nodded to her. Rose, with the help of her classmates had hurriedly opened the package to reveal the beautiful looking broom. It was made out of Mahogany and next to the company logo, in gold letters, her parents had inscribed "Rosie". She had chuckled to herself as she read the note attached: "Dear Rosie. Kick Ass. Second time's the charm. Love, Mum and Dad". Of course nobody other than her knew the significance of the note but they had all ogled at her broom anyway.

Now as she caught up to the others, she laid a hand on Sarah's shoulder to catch her breath. "Getting yourself worn out eh Weasley?" Scorpius smirked but his eyes were on her broom, not her. Rose laughed inwardly. She knew very well that Scorpius wanted her broom model. He had the Fire-bolt 5000. Ever since she had gotten her broom, he was always pestering her, asking he if he could borrow it. So far, she had refused. "Hardly!" she panted out.

Sarah smiled at her. "Take it easy there Rose".

Rose nodded silently, still gasping for breath. Sarah wrapped her arm around Rose's shoulder.

"Come one" she said ushering Rose towards the middle of the pitch where a group of students were gathering.

Rose looked at Sarah in surprise.

"Why so mellow Sarah? You're the one whose most excited about this." Rose asked.

Sarah shook her head.

"Just mentally preparing myself. Calming down."

Rose nodded in understanding.

They finally had reached the others. There were many of them. Looking around, Rose realised they were the only second years out on the pitch. Scorpius seemed to notice this too. "Maybe they're not up to it this year?" he suggested. Rose glanced around the pitch again. All these players were more experienced that her. How was she going to compete against them for a position? She suddenly felt nervous. Everyone was chattering amongst themselves excitedly. Catching sight of Rose's broom, several players through her looks. Shifting her feet uncomfortably, Rose looked away. Suddenly the crowd fell silent and someone stepped forward to address them. Rose's mouth almost fell open.

"Katie?" she whispered to Sarah. "Katie's the Quiditch captain?"

Sarah nodded. "Yea. She's been captain for two years now, if you count last year. She plays Chaser."

Rose's mouth seemed to sink closer to the ground. Katie had been the one to deny her a position on the Quiditch team? Well then, today she would prove to her what a mistake she had made! Rose ground her teeth in determination.

Katie looked around the pitch.

"Some great talent here." she noted. "But remember like last year, your position on this team is never guaranteed. Everyone of you will be going through some intense physical challenges today before I can ascertain who stays and who gets replaced." she said with a steely look in her eye.

For the first time, Rose felt intimidated by Katie.

"Now, split yourselves up. Those playing for Keeper to my far left. For chaser on my left. For Beaters in the middle and for seekers to my right please!" Katie called.

For a moment everyone stood around not knowing what to do.

"Now!" Katie shouted.

Suddenly everyone burst into movement quickly scuttling into their positions.

Sarah hurried over to where the line for chaser candidates stood. Rose followed Scorpius over to where the possible beaters stood. Looking at the sheer physical size of the other beater candidates, Rose felt a lump in her throat.

Katie walked to and fro to inspect all the candidates. Glancing over and noticing Scorpius and Rose, she smirked. Rose furrowed her brows. Katie seemed to be thinking to herself and then she faced the group once more.

"Alright!" she called. "All of you will be tested one group at a time."

Glancing at Rose again she continued.

"The beaters will go first, followed by the chasers, then the keepers and finally the seekers. Once you have finished your tests, you are free to leave. Except for the chasers. I need five of you to stay behind to help with the tests for the keepers." she said looking at the chasers.

The nodded.

"Good" she stated. "Now when you are not being tested, please remain in the stands for safety purposes until I call your group down to the pitch. You are not to leave before you finish your test or I will take it that you no longer wish to try out. Finally, the team positions and results will be posted on the Quiditch notice board tomorrow afternoon so do not approach me earlier than that."

She paused again to make sure everyone was following.

"So, let's begin!" she called.

Rose waved at Sarah who was heading towards the stands, who waved back giving a thumbs up, then she followed the rest of the beaters to their starting positions. Katie glanced at the group. "Now we'll be playing a little game here." she smiled cheekily. "I'll split you guys into half. Now the objective of this game is simply not to get hit by the bludger. There will be two going back and forth and you will try and aim those bludgers to the players on the opposing team. This little game will reflect your skills as a beater, in terms of beating itself, accuracy and tactical maneuvering." she finished. Everyone nodded signally their understanding. Rose looked up to the stands to see the other Slytherin Quiditch team hopefuls, watching them with interest.

Katie split them into half, equally into teams made out of 6 players. Next she handed all the players a wooden bat each. "Take your positions on the opposite sides of the pitch!" she called out, carrying a large box towards them that contained the bludgers. Rose nodded and followed her team to the left side of the pitch. She caught Scorpius' eye. He was on the opposing team and was giving her a smirk. Rose was panicking inside. This would not end well. Once she was on the other end of the pitch, Rose mounted her broom and kicked her heels. The broom rose steadily off the ground. Rose looked around at the other players on her "team". They didn't even acknowledge her. Rose knew why. They were playing on the same side but at the end of the day, there could only be two beaters.

Rose's broom rose steadily off the ground till it was level with the others'. Across the pitch she could still see Scorpius smirking at her. She narrowed her eyes at him. Looking down, she saw Katie walking towards them. "Good!" she called up. "Now this little game won't last very long. Just about 5 minutes or so. So keep your mind sharp and alert and good luck!" she said smiling at the players. Rose felt her stomach churning again. I can't do this! she panicked. Looking down at her bat she felt wave upon wave of uncertainty crash down upon her. She felt so utterly lost. Her palm felt sweaty as she gripped the bat tightly.

"No!" she told herself suddenly. No! She had worked too hard and long to get here. If she backed out now. She wouldn't disappoint anyone but herself. She could do this! She knew she could. It was just like a game of family Quiditch except this time, everyone was a beater, she comforted herself. Closing her eyes shut, she tried to imagine the burrow, her family members flying around her. "Just a game" she murmured to herself. "It's just a game" "Ready guys!" Katie called out, about the release the bludgers. Everyone nodded in reply. "Let the game begin!" Katie called out and she released the bludgers that propelled themselves into the air.

Suddenly people were zooming everywhere. Rose raced forward, bat in air. Suddenly the bludger was coming towards her, from the bat of Scorpius Malfoy. Rose swung her bat and smacked it back to Scorpius sneering. The bludger, thanks to Rose's good swing, curved as it approached Scorpius and he had to swerve out of the way, missing it by inches. Rose smirked and flew off. Below she could see Katie observing them, taking notes. Then suddenly she heard something whizzing towards her. The bludger had come out of nowhere. Thinking fast, Rose flipped herself upside down on her broom, the bludger, barely skimming above her. Flipping herself around, she saw the source of the bludger. It was a girl, with light blond hair and green eyes. Rose remembered she was on the team last year. What was her name? Alison...

But Rose snapped herself back to reality. Feeling a surge of energy pulse through her, she barred her teeth at Alison and flew off towards the bludger that was coming back towards her. Swinging her bat, Rose smacked the bludger with all her might, Alison would not jeopardise her position. Rose was surprised at the force of the blow as she watched in amazement as the bludger flew towards Alison. Suddenly Rose heard a loud crack. She watched in shock as her bludger hit it's target successfully. She mustn't have been looking, Rose thought. She saw that the bludger had smashed the handle of Alison's broom and that she was now plummeting towards Earth. Katie immediately muttered a charm and Alison's crumpled form landed softly on the ground.

Rose just stayed stationary, shell shocked at what she had just done. But after all, this was a game. The aim was to hit the opposing team members. She suddenly caught Scorpius' eye who was staring at her in shock. Everyone, seemed to have momentarily, stopped play. Katie looked up at the players annoyed. "Play on!" she called. Then everyone was whizzing around again. Rose found that now she was being attacked by Alison's friends, as if they were trying to avenge Alison. But Rose was growing more and more confident. She comfortably swung her bat left and right, almost knocking another person off their broom in the process. Her heart was racing and the sweat on her brow kept her sharp. She would take all of them on if she had to! Then suddenly she heard Katie's whistle. Rose felt the energy drain from her body and she carefully touched back down on the ground.

Katie with the help of several older students, summoned the bludgers and caught them, placing them back in their box. By now, Alison was feeling better and Rose could see her sitting on the stand. Katie followed Rose's gaze and smiled comfortingly at her. "She's ok" she told Rose. Rose nodded, relieved. Katie glanced around at all the players.

"Some fantastic flying!" she smiled at them. "Some interesting moves and quick flying." She seemed to be looking at her again but Rose couldn't tell for sure.

Everyone seemed to sigh with relief.

"Well that's all for today. Please check the notice board for the results. You may place you bats at the side here." Katie indicated to her left.

Rose followed the others and returned her bat.

"Chaser hopefuls you may come down to the pitch!" Katie called.

Rose hurried over to the stands where Alison was sitting.

"Alison I'm so sorry!" she cried out as she glanced at Alison who was cradling her arm.

Alison looked up surprised but when she saw Rose, she smiled.

"That's ok Rose. Nothing really happened. Just a sprained arm. Besides, you should be proud knocking me out like that. I'm getting a bit out of touch anyway. If Katie has any sense, she'll pick you." she winked.

Rose blushed.

"Gee thanks... but are you sure you're ok? Can I do anything at all?" she insisted.

Alison laughed and shook her head. "No you go ahead I'll be fine. I'll just put a little ice on it and it'll be good as new." she said glancing at her arm.

Rose hesitated but nodded. "Well ok then... I guess I'll see you?"

Alison nodded, "Yea see you. And good luck!" she called.

Rose smiled and hurried away. Scorpius was waiting for her at the edge of the pitch.

"Where's Sarah?" she asked him

Scorpius pointed to Sarah who was approaching her. Rose gave her a huge hug.

Sarah laughed. "You were fantastic Rose! You too Scorpius." she added.

Scorpius nodded.

"Thanks!" Rose smiled. "Good luck Sarah! I'm sure you'll knock em' dead."

Sarah crossed her fingers. "I hope so!" she giggled.

Rose smirked. This looked more like the old excitable Sarah.

Scorpius cleared his throat and Rose shot him a look. Sarah chuckled.

"No he's right. You better go."

Rose paused. "You sure you don't want me to stay and watch?" she asked her friend.

Sarah shook her head. "Nah you guys go ahead."

"Ok then, good luck!" Rose called to Sarah before heading off with Scorpius.

"You flew well." Rose commented.

Scorpius glanced at Rose and smirked.

"As painful as it is for me to admit this to you Rose" he began, "You flew better."


	13. Friends Come and Go

That evening the Slytherin girls sat in their dorm chatting and giggling. It was just after dinner and nobody was ready to turn in for at least another two hours or so. Rose and Sarah were still exhausted from Quidditch practice but they joined in anyway. According to Sarah the Chaser tryouts had gone fine and she was feeling pretty satisfied with her performance. Rose was glad. Sarah was happy with her performance, that was important. Mel had decided that they would play a muggle game for the fun of it. Rose had never heard of it. It was called Truth or Dare". So far it was proving to be one of the most ridiculous yet one of the most entertaining games she had ever played.

Mel had explained the rules of the game. Basically they would spin a bottle and whoever the bottle head pointed to would have to choose between two options: truth or dare. If one were to choose truth, then the other girls would be allowed to ask one question which that person had to answer truthfully. If they picked dare, the others would agree on a task that that person had to perform. These tasks were usually supposed to be embarrassing.

At first Rose hadn't wanted to play. It was, an inane game. "Come on Rosie!" Mel had cheered. "Yea" the twins had called, "Don't be a spoil sport." Even Sarah had looked at her encouragingly. So Rose had relented and had joined the game. The five some sat themselves on the floor. Mel had begun by placing a bottle in the middle of the circle they had formed. "Ready?" she smiled a cheeky grin. The girls had nodded eagerly, Rose less so and the game began. Rose had watched as the bottle span, almost looking like it was in slow motion, spinning around and around, slowing with every turn. Finally the bottle had come to a standstill with the bottle neck pointing straight at her.

The other girls had giggled excitedly and Rose had groaned loudly.

"Ok then" Sarah had chuckled. "Truth or Dare?"

Rose had thought about it long and hard. What could be the worse of the two? She actually saw large negatives in both options. Finally she had made up her mind.

"Truth" she sighed.

"Yay!" Anne had cheered.

The girls then had proceeded to discuss amongst themselves, what question to ask Rose. After what had seemed like eternity, they had turned back to face her.

Rose recalled Mel's face, serious and stone cold as she had asked her the question. "Do you enjoy being in Slytherin?"

Rose had glanced around the room, eyes widened. There was no trace of humor in the girls' eyes. They wanted to truth. Only the truth. She felt numb thinking about it. It was a subject and thought that she had not encountered in awhile. After a pause she had looked up from her thoughts, scanning the girls in the room who still waited patiently for the answer.

"Yes" she had replied.

At this the girls' faces had transformed and now they were laughing and cheering, slapping Rose on the back. Rose had breathed a sigh of relief. The awkward moment had passed.

Since that first question the bottle had only pointed to Rose one more time. Sarah had gotten it twice as well with the twins tying at thrice. Mel was the most unlucky with the bottle pointing to her 5 times. Now it was her turn again with the bottle neck pointing directly at her. The girls started laughing.

"Oh look Mel, the bottle likes you!" Claire chuckled.

Anne snickered. "Truth or Dare?" she asked.

Mel smiled. "Truth!"

"Awww!" the girls cried out in protest.

Mel crossed her arms. "What?" she whined.

Rose laughed. "You're no fun, always picking truth."

Mel raised a brow. "So what if I pick truth? I'm entitled to the choice!"

Sarah shook her head. "Not when the bottle has pointed to you 6 times!"

Mel waved her arm, disregarding the girls' protests.

"Ask me the question"

"Rose should go" Sarah suggested. "She didn't get to ask one yet."

Rose nodded and tried to think of a question. Mel eyed her and she smiled evilly. What did she want to know about Mel? The other girls had already asked the obvious questions. What could she pick? Suddenly it dawned on her, remembering how in their first year, she had shuddered at the thought that Mel might be interested in Scorpius. Perfect. She smirked.

Mel frowned at her. "Don't give me that look Weasley!" she said chuckling.

Rose leaned forward and smiled at Mel. "Do you think that Scorpius Malfoy is cute?" she asked cruelly.

The rest of the girls held their breath and looked expectantly at Mel. Rose could see that her face was beginning to flush and her cheeks were turning a deep red. She was averting Rose's gaze. Rose smirked in triumph.

"AH!" Sarah gasped laughing. "You do!"

Mel stared at Sarah sharply but quickly looked to the floor again, her finger playing with a lock of hair. She looked like a little lost girl.

"Yea... a little" she mumbled.

Anna laughed. "From the looks of it, I think you think of him as more than a little cute!" she teased.

"Best question ever Rosie!" Claire cheered.

"Thank you!" Rose stood up and took a bow. Sarah cheered loudly.

Suddenly Mel seemed to snap out of her self-conscious behaviour and cleared her throat. The girls looked at her in surprise.

"Anyway... I er think we should continue" she said hurriedly, trying to change the subject.

Rose chuckled and sat down, as Mel spun the bottle. This time the bottle pointed to... Rose.

"Yay!" Rose cheered. "My turn!"

"Ok ok, Truth or Dare" Claire asked.

Rose thought about it for a moment. Nobody had picked dare yet. Maybe she should try it, just for the fun of it... It would make the game a little less boring, she thought to herself.

"Dare" she said smugly.

"Oooo" the girls chanted.

They began whispering amongst each other, trying to figure out a good dare. Rose leaned back. This could take awhile.

Finally the girls stopped discussing and turned to face Rose.

Mel was smiling at her.

"Uh oh" Rose thought. This would be payback time for her.

"So" Mel began. "You wanna head to the topic of boys. We can do that." she smirked.

Rose glanced at her sharply

Mel continued. "Well for your dare, the objective is to get any boy in the common room downstairs to sit with you by the fireplace AND to hold you in his arms, using any means necessary." she smiled finishing.

Rose rolled her eyes.

"Seriously guys? Real mature." she sneered.

Mel laughed. "Is that another way of saying, no way I won't do it?" she asked.

Rose looked at Sarah imploringly.

"Come on Rose" she coaxed. "It'll be fun!"

Rose chewed her bottom lip.

"Fine" she muttered. "Only! To prove that it can be done!" she finished.

Mel chuckled. "Sure whatever"

Rose smiled, "Wait, what if there aren't any boys in the common room?" She seemed pleased to find a loophole.

But Mel was having none of that. "Then you do it tomorrow" she chuckled.

Rose groaned.

With that she turned and walked out of their dorm. The girls watched as Rose stepped out into the hallway. They saw her peer down the stairs to see who was in the common room. Rose looked down and say only two figures reading in the common room. A first year girl and Scorpius Malfoy. Great, she thought. Of all the boys, it had to be him. Oh well, she thought. Pointing her wand at herself, she muttered a dirtying spell. Suddenly Rose was drenched. There were mud and tear marks on her face, her hair was unkempt and sticking out in places and her robes were soggy. her shoes were slippery. Most importantly, there was a long red scratch mark on her face. Rose could hear the astonished voices of her friends behind her but she ignored them. Mel had said, by any means necessary. Rose glanced at her reflection in a mirror on the wall. It was very convincing.

Taking a deep breath, she hurried down the stairs, making her way straight to the fireplace, sobbing. She purposely made a racket along the way, so she would be noticed. The girls quickly followed her and watched carefully from the stop of the staircase so that they wouldn't be seen. They all held their breath. Sighing, Rose plonked herself down on the carpet beside the fire, pretending to warm herself. She sobbed several times until she heard someone clear their throat. Smiling to herself, she turned around to meet Scorpius' eyes. She pretended to be surprised.

"Oh!" she said quickly looking away. "I didn't know anyone was here."

"Weasley" there was tone of disbelief in his voice, as if he couldn't believe what he was witnessing.

She turned around to face him again, tears streaming down her face.

"Nervous breakdown." he stated, making an analogy to their little meeting by the lake they had had in first year.

Rose shook her head.

At this point in time the first year girl looked thoroughly uncomfortable. Picking up her reading materials, she quickly scattered towards her dormitory. As she passed Rose she threw her an apologetic look and scurried away. Meanwhile the other girls quickly hurried back into their dorm to avoid being seen by the first year. Once the coast was clear, they slowly creeped out again and watched in surprise and awe at the scene unfolding before them. What on earth was Rose up to?

Scorpius smirked as he saw the first year scurry away.

Rose pretended to suddenly be conscious of her physical appearance.

"Oh" she said sobbing again. "Sorry"

She muttered a cleaning charm and suddenly her hair was in place, fresh and clean, the mud was gone, her clothes were dry but she made care to make sure that the tears and the long scratch remained. She could hear Scorpius putting down his reading material and felt it as he approached her. He sat down beside her and gazed at her. His grey eyes seemed to have been ignited by the flames and they looked molten, like hot metal. They pierced Rose.

"Why the long face?" he asked her.

Rose was almost shocked at his facial expression. What was it in his eyes? Concern!

Rose shook her head. "Silly really" she mumbled. "I er had a disagreement with Mel" she made up as quickly as she could. "We just started fighting in the common room, throwing spells at each other. She scratched me." Rose whispered pointing to her face. Scorpius was watching her the whole time in stone silence.

"Anyway" she continued. "I lost it. I shoved her, against the bed. She wasn't even hurt. She just pretended to be hurt groaning and moaning and of course all the girls... All the other girls swarmed to help her and I... I didn't know what to do. I just stood there. And then I had to get out. I felt like the walls were closing in one me. So I left" she finished. Listening at the top of the staircase, Sarah's eyes had widened. Rose would make a writer.

Rose sniffled again. "The worst part was that Sarah, my best friend, when I pushed Mel she didn't defend me or anything. She just shouted at me, Rose how could you? But I mean of course she would do that. I mean Mel's the most popular in the group. Everyone wants to be her friend. Nobody wants to upset her. They're never gonna speak to me again..." she trailed off. Rose had suddenly realised something. She wasn't making this up. There were times when she didn't agree with Mel but she was always afraid to voice her opinion because she never wanted to upset the group's ringleader. And she was pretty sure that after this, Mel wasn't going to talk to her for awhile. Even though it was Mel's idea for this whole dare, Rose WAS sitting on the floor pouring her heart out to Mel's crush, painting Mel in a negative light in the process. She knew Mel wouldn't appreciate that much. Rose suddenly understood that what she was telling Scorpius was real. It was real frustration and fear despite the fictional setting.

She turned to see Scorpius gazing at her. He slowly reached out and stroked her cheek. She felt the urge to pull away but she couldn't. She kept her vision locked on his eyes. "If they never speak to you again..." he began still stroking her cheek, "then maybe they are not your friends. Plus..." he added, "I always thought Mel was a bitch." her smirked. Rose was pretty sure she heard a squeak of horror come from the top of the staircase. Still it was ironic and funny for her to hear Scorpius say it. Rose shook her head, allowing her real emotions to come out. Too long she had been suppressing her fears. She had to let the out. She was at her breaking point.

"If they aren't my friends then who is? I have nobody. I'm in Slytherin for crying out loud. My family's not gonna be there like a babysitter to care for me! I'm the weirdo, the odd one out." she cried out. "Plus, Mel's not that bad..." she added trying to stick up for her friend. Maybe if she tried to save the situation, Mel would go easier on her later. At her comment, Scorpius rolled his eyes. She averted his gaze. So much for salvaging the situation...

"Me" he added suddenly.

Rose looked at him confused.

"Huh?"

"I'm your friend"

Rose gazed at him.

"Really?"

"Yea"

Rose was speechless. She knew that she and Scorpius had gotten closer this year but he didn't know that he cared about her so much. What was supposed to be a dare had turned into a declaration of friendship. This was strange.

"I promise" he muttered, "To be there for you, good times and bad and support you, never pressurise you and accept you and your views for what they are." he stated solemnly.

The girls listening to this at the top of the staircase were shellshocked. Rose had been right regarding her suspicions. Mel particularly, was shaken. It was only supposed to be a dare! A silly little dare and now Rose had Scorpius worshipping her feet! She ground her teeth together in jealousy. Rose would pay for this! Because of her, Scorpius had called her the... the... B word! Mel couldn't think straight. Her mind was already wheeling with ideas on how to get back at Rose.

The twins were silent. Rose sounded so... real down there, talking to Scorpius. Was she making up this story, or she did she really feel that way about Mel, about how she felt pressured by the group. The only thing they knew for sure was that Mel would not take this well. After all, Rose was making Mel seem like the bad guy to Scorpius. They watched nervously as Mel ground her teeth, biting her lip.

Sarah on the other hand, sighed. She didn't have to suspect anything. She knew, she had always known, that was the way Rose had felt. She wanted to stand up for Rose but Rose was right, everyone was just too afraid to anger Mel to do something truly drastic. Even Sarah herself, felt insecure about her position in the group. She also knew that after this, there were be a lot of tension between Mel and Rose. No matter how hard Rose tried to mend their friendship. Mel never truly forgave and both she and Rose knew that. She shook her head, resigned. They would eventually have to choose sides. That was something she did not want to do.

"I'm here for you Rose" Scorpius squeezed her hand.

Rose smiled.

Then suddenly, without warning, he wrapped his arms around her and held her. He pecked her on her scratched face lightly. Rose's eyes widened. She had a warm glow in her stomach. She should have been happy, she had won the dare! But that wasn't why she was happy. Instead her victory felt hollow, meaningless. Because she had gained something much more.

Suddenly she didn't care about anything. She didn't care if the two of them were scolded by teachers, she didn't care about how Mel would react to what she had told Scorpius. or how their friendship would change from there. Right then and there, it was just the two of them, she in his arms, the to of them by the fire. And one thing was for sure, she had a true friend.


	14. Taking Sides

Sarah found Rose the next morning sitting by the Lake. It was just after breakfast and they still had 1/2 hour to class. When Sarah woke up that morning both Rose and Mel were out of bed and fighting. Well actually they weren't fighting. Mel was doing most of the talking. Rose had been pacing around the room, trying to get ready while Mel had been screaming at her. According to the twins, Sarah had missed the bulk of the argument which had been going on since dawn. She had suddenly felt lucky that she was a deep sleeper. The night before they had waited for Rose to come up after her dare with Scorpius but she never did and eventually they had decided to go to bed without her. Apparently Mel had sprung on the first possible opportunity to accuse Rose of being romantically involved with Scorpius, something Sarah knew what probably not true. Rose didn't have feelings for Scorpius. She figured that Rose had probably just stayed up to talk with him. Mel, of course, with her irrational brain hadn't understood that that might have been possible.

So as a result, she had shouted and raved at Rose all morning as they were preparing to go down for breakfast. The noise she had made was relentless and repetitive, after awhile, Sarah realised, she wasn't even speaking coherently. sarah had stood there, her eyes glassed over and her vision hazy. It seemed she had wanted to push Rose to her breaking point. Well as far as Sarah could tell, she had succeeded. Rose lost it, cursing Mel, she had stormed out of the dorm, leaving the rest of the girls shocked and leaving Mel with a smug look on her face. Sarah had felt numb, just standing there. There had been a strong urge to run after Rose to comfort her. She was her best friend after all. To see her so abused and hurt killed her. But she, cowardice Sarah, had done nothing to help her. She had let Mel scream at her all morning, not blinking an eyelid. So once again, she stopped herself. Mel was in a bad enough mood as it is, she had rationalised. It was really just to comfort herself. She decided that she would find Rose at breakfast.

So Sarah had followed the group, led by Mel. They had walked in stone silence to the Great Hall. Sarah had never remembered a day like this, where nobody had talked. It was horrible. Usually they would all be chattering amongst themselves, consolidating plans for the day. She had glanced nervously at the twins who had shrugged their shoulders helplessly. Entering the Great Hall, she had hurried over to the Slytherin table to find Rose. But to her surprise, Rose wasn't there. Mel seemed pleased at this and sat down. Sarah had hesitantly taken her seat beside Mel. Mel had suddenly began talking. It was strange. It was as if she had been pretending to be oblivious to the drama they had all found themselves in. What was worse, she had been talking about the most inane subject, school work. But all too soon the fake smile that Mel had plastered on her face had suddenly evaporated. Sarah looked up and immediately understood.

Entering the Great Hall, walking towards them had been Scorpius Malfoy and his friends Greg and Leo. Walking up towards them he had nodded curtly to Sarah. She had frowned momentarily, wondering why he was angry at her. Then she suddenly remembered that in the story Rose had told Scorpius, she had rejected Rose as well. Understanding, she had contentedly nodded back. Scorpius seemed to have been looking at them intently. To Sarah it was almost as if he way saying, "Where's Rose? Oh right, knowing Mel, she might have killed her." Sarah hadn't blame him. She would have thought the same thing if she had been in his position. Mel had tried to say hi to Scorpius as well but he had simply ignored her. Sarah had gulped as she felt the heat waves rise from Mel's body. The bad situation had suddenly turned worse. Looking down she began to pick at her food. Where would Rose go when she was upset? She had thought to herself. She had scrambled her brains, trying to find an answer. Suddenly, it had dawned on her. The lake.

She had tried to find an excuse to leave the table. "I er forgot to get some work done!" she had made up, "I need to finish it before class. Looks like I have to skip breakfast." she had rattled off. Sarah had held her breath as Mel had narrowed her eyes at her before finally shrugging. She had been out of there in a flash, running through the grounds of Hogwarts, heading straight for the Lake. Sure enough there had been two figures sitting at the edge of the water's surface, one of them was, undeniably Rose.

Recognizing her friend, Sarah now ran towards her at top speed, down the slope. It was if all her fears about her image and whether she was in Mel's good books, seemed to have evaporated. She didn't need Mel when she had Rose. As she got closer, she suddenly recognised the second figure, Albus Potter. Reaching the pair, Sarah's panting and gasps for air alerted them and they wheeled around sharply. Rose was crying, soft silent tears streaking down her face and Albus was gripping her hand, protectively. Rose's shoulders seemed to relax and she smiled sadly. "Sarah" she croaked. Sarah sunk to her knees, partly out of exhaustion and partly because she suddenly felt weak.

"Rose" she mumbled helplessly.

Albus kept his cold stare on Sarah.

"I... wanted to talk but you weren't at breakfast." Sarah murmured as if to explain herself.

Rose chuckled, "Yea I skipped breakfast."

Sarah took a step towards her friend.

"Rose if this is about last night. About Scorpius..." she began.

Suddenly Rose's eyes flashed with anger.

"No!" she spat. "This isn't about him. Sure the whole business last night what with the story I made up and the hug and the kiss might have aggravated things..." she murmured to herself, "But it's much bigger than that! What with Mel not talking to me and all..." she trailed off.

At the word "Kiss" Albus seemed to flinch slightly.

Sarah nodded, understanding, "It's like what you said last night. You don't think you have any friends. Real friends?" she probed.

Rose nodded, rubbing away the tears on her face.

Sarah now was beside Rose hugging her shoulder. Rose didn't resist.

"Did you mean it?" she asked now cautiously. "What you said about me? That you know... I support Mel and not you?"

It had been bothering her for awhile. She knew she was guilty of it on occasion, but she wanted Rose to know that she was on her side. She couldn't end up like the Sarah in Rose's story to Scorpius. She couldn't!

Rose glanced at her for a moment. She seemed to be... thinking.

"A little" she mumbled, as if embarrassed to admit it.

Sarah said nothing and Rose continued.

"I know you don't agree with her, I can feel it, but you never back me up. You just... stand there! I know you're scared but sometimes I feel, a true friend would be there for me. And I really want you to be a true friend" she finished, her dark brown eyes, boring into Sarah's.

Sarah bit her lip.

"I know." she admitted. "I did it again this morning, when Mel was screaming at you. I... I knew... know that there's nothing between you and Scorpius and I should have told her off. But I didn't." she said looking at the ground.

Rose nodded.

"Yea I did get pretty pissed at Mel. I mean can you believe she thought I would be interested in him? Trying to seduce him? HIM of all people! Honestly, what does she see in Scorpius. He's a good person, but I doubt he'll be committed in a relationship!" Rose laughed changing the subject and lightening the mood.

Albus snorted at this. Rose smiled at her cousin. But her smile quickly faded.

"She's going to make you choose" she told Sarah.

Sarah nodded.

Rose looked away. "I know it. I hoped she wouldn't be too mad but after this morning... I know, she'll never want to be my friend again. She's just so caught up in the anger and jealousy to see what is really going on. And the only thing gong on between Scorpius and I is our friendship! It's just Mel, her character. True Slytherin, unforgiving." she pondered slightly.

It was Sarah's turn to snort. "So much for "Best friends!'" she mimicked Mel's voice.

Rose nodded. "Yea. But Mel was always fickle. In her thoughts and decisions. I guess that transfers to her allegiances and friendships."

"I'd pick you." Sarah continued.

Rose glanced at her eyes widened. "You don't have to Sarah. I can manage on my own..."

Sarah rolled her eyes. "No you can't Rose and who needs to be popular right?" she asked. "As long as I have real, close friends, that's the most important thing."

"Real friends" Rose repeated softly. "Thanks Sarah" she smiled.

Sarah shook her head. "I should be thanking you, for being there for me. You've helped me through all the tough times so far. In school work and personal issues. I should be apologising, I am apologising for not doing the same for you." she looked ashamed.

Rose squeezed her shoulder. "You're sticking up for me when it counts." she smiled. "Both of you" she said hugging Albus as well.

Albus smiled. He had been the lamppost in the conversation until now. "Of course Rosie. Who wouldn't want a friend like you?" he asked.

Sarah nodded in agreement. "Yea even Malfoy wants to be you're friend."

Rose shuddered. "After this morning, all the screeching, I would prefer not to relive the events of last night..."

Sarah laughed. "Me too. Though you have to admit, Malfoy's speech was rather touching... He's a good person."

Rose sighed. "Yea I'll give that to him. Plus," she added, "I know that friendship is real."


	15. Joke gone Wrong

Rose was struggling vigorously. Her arms were flailing and she was kicking her legs with all her might. Maybe if she was lucky, they would eventually drop her out of frustration... She had tried to wrestle away from them but she had been outnumbered, cornered after class. She didn't even had the time to scream. They had scooped her up like she was as light as a twig branch and were carrying her through the castle. Merlin knew where they were taking her. She was still putting up a fight though, thrashing to and fro like a fish out of water. She couldn't stun them. They had taken her wand...

"Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy!" she wailed pathetically but knew that it was no use.

Scorpius was smirking at his, fingering her wand as Leo and Greg carried her.

"Put me down! And get your filthy fingers off my wand!" she exclaimed.

They were now carrying her out of the castle. Several of the students through them bemused and curious looks but did nothing to stop the boys. Rose rolled her eyes exasperated. Didn't anyone take initiative here?

"Gosh Rose, stop struggling" Leo muttered in her ear, as he carried her by the arms.

Rose looked at and glared at him.

"I thought you were better than this Zabini!" she sneered. "You too Goyle" she looked down at Greg who was carrying her legs and shook her head. "But HIM!" she shouted gesturing towards Scorpius who was walking ahead, "I can understand perfectly..."

Scorpius seemed to ignore Rose's comment and continued walking.

Rose suddenly gave up on trying to escape. What chance did she stand against the three of them? Whatever they had in store for her, she might as well accept. She stopped moving and let her body go limp.

"Ah!" Greg smiled. "That's better"

Rose eyed him sharply. Greg instantly fell silent. Suddenly her eyes widened as she saw where they were taking her.

"No!" she exclaimed. "It's the middle of September I'll freeze in there!" she screamed as the deep black waters of the lake drew closer and closer, like an ominous presence approaching her. She felt her heart sink.

"It was Scorpius' idea Rose" Leo mumbled apologetically. But he was still wearing a large grin on his face.

Rose groaned. So that's why Scorpius had asked her if she was a good swimmer! Why hadn't she seen past it? Had she been naive enough to believe that Scorpius Malfoy was actually interested in whether she could swim? Hah! Well she was about to pay very dearly for her mistake. She took a deep breath as they stopped right at the lake's edge.

Scorpius finally turned to face her once more. His trademark smirk was plastered all over his horrid little face. Rose had no greater urge, than to break away from the boys and slap him.

"Well Rosie," he began. "Since you mentioned that you were an excellent swimmer to me the other day, I've been doing a lot of thinking. It struck me all of a sudden and I came up with a charming idea. I was wondering, maybe you could teach us a thing or two about swimming? After all you learnt to swim when you were... five, am I right?" he asked innocently.

Rose barred her teeth at him.

"Now now Rosie" he shook his head. "That's not a very nice thing to do. As I was saying: The three of us here are not nearly as experienced as you are and we really do want to become top notch swimmers. So, how about a little demonstration then?" he asked her.

Rose opened her mouth to respond but she could barely think of what to say when she suddenly felt Leo and Greg beginning swing her back and forth, gaining momentum, preparing for her "demonstration". She felt ill as she felt that their swinging was gaining speed, faster and faster. She squeezed her eyes shut, in fear. "I hate you!" she screamed as she found herself being thrust straight into the lake

Rose felt the water of the lake pierce through her skin like icicles. She felt upon impact with the water, as if her backbone was being smashed into a million glass shards. She bit her lip at the excruciating pain. Her clothes were soaked through and her wet hair was now covering her face, surrounding her like a heavy auburn veil. She was shivering. She opened her eyes but saw... nothing. Glancing around, disorientated she tried to make something out. But the water was so dark, she couldn't see a thing. Looking up, she could barely see the sun, piercing through the water and the three figures of Scorpius, Leo and Greg, peering down on her. Leo and Greg must have thrown her pretty far down. Focusing her eyes towards the sunlight, Rose began to swim upwards.

She breathed an inward sigh of relief as the sunlight began to get stronger. She couldn't wait to get out of this freezing water and strangle Scorpius! But as soon as the thought passed through her mind, she felt something grab her leg. Rose looked down in alarm and saw that some kind of vine-like plant had grabbed hold to her right knee and was pulling her down. Rose instinctively reached for her pocket where she kept her wand and then suddenly realised in horror, that her wand was still with Scorpius. Panicking, she began to kick frantically, trying to shake off the plant. But it's grip on her only seemed to tighten. Suddenly another plant grabbed her left leg and began dragging her further, away from the sunlight. "Aaa!" Rose screamed in the water but she knew nobody could her. She thrashed violently trying to create bubbles that might alert the boys on the surface.

But Rose was running out of oxygen. Her movement slowly grew feeble and her arms eventually stopped moving. She felt powerless and she felt the powerful plants begin to pull her. Down down down. What would they do with her? She thought to herself. Would she become their next meal? If she did die, would they ever find her body? Rose closed her eyes, resigned to her fate when suddenly she felt a layer of water flood over her. Her eyes shooting open, she watched in amazement. Someone had jumped in, she couldn't tell who they were but they swimming, towards her! Seeing the plants, they pulled out their wand and muttered something. Rose suddenly felt the plant on her left leg release her. The swimmer muttered the same spell and then Rose was free! They quickly swum over, grabbing onto Rose's waist and pointing their wand towards the surface of the water, Rose heard them mutter something and they burst out of the water, literally.

Rose found herself, propelled at an astonishing speed through the water and the next thing she knew, she was on solid ground, at the edge of the lake. Her eyes were wide open and she was gasping frantically for air. Her hair was all everywhere, most of it covering her face. Her hands instinctively grabbed the grass on either side of her, her fingernails digging into the ground. Leo was looking at her with concern. "Can you hear me Rose?" he asked her. Now, clutching her chest, still choking up the water she had swallowed, Rose gasped a feeble, "Yes"

Leo's worried expression turned to relief. With his help, Rose slowly managed to sit up. Her eyes coming into focus once more, she glanced around to see who had jumped in after her. Her eyes widened at the sight before her. Scorpius was sitting on the ground opposite her, staring at her and panting. His eyes were unfocused and glassy. His hair and pants were soaking wet. On the grass beside him, lay his pristine shirt and his wand. Rose's wand was several metres away, a safe distance from the lake. Greg was kneeling nervously beside him, patting his back, trying to get him to cough up any swallowed water. Rose stared at him with utter disbelief. Scorpius had saved her...

She stumbled slightly as she tried to get up, her head spinning and her mind reeling. Leo grabbed her arm, protectively and steadying her. She gave him a look of gratitude and sighed. "We thought you were dead." she heard him whisper. "So did I" she replied honestly. Clumsily making her way towards him, Rose collapsed once more in front of Scorpius. By now her breathing was a little more regular and the tightness she had felt in her chest was gone. She was staring at Scorpius who was staring back. Greg and Leo exchanged looks. Scorpius' eyes were no longer glassy and had come back into focused. His breathing was shallow though and his chest was heaving.

Rose smirked. "What the hell?" she asked him, breathing deeply.

At this Scorpius broke into a grin. "Well the guys and I did this cos we just wanted to say..." he rasped. "Welcome to third year Rosie!"


	16. Trip to the Library

Hurrying towards the library, Rose glanced briefly at her watch. She had 45 minutes till class. She could get some reading done in between. Ever since the huge fight with Mel, Rose had kept mostly to herself, going to the lake and the library, the lake less so though, especially after the incident with Scorpius and friends. Sarah would often come along with her, just to lend a listening ear and also because Sarah nowadays, couldn't stand Mel. It seemed that Mel just got more annoying by the year. The Slytherin girls' dorm at night would be filled with an eerie and awkward silence. Rose always felt uncomfortable in there, for fear that one day, Mel might curse her in her sleep. However, luckily for her, no such curse came. She remembered a time a long time ago, when they would sit together and talk late into the night. Those days, were long gone. The lines had been drawn and so had the allegiances. As promised, Sarah had stuck by Rose which had led to her immediate expulsion from the group. Though she was still "allowed" to speak and hang out with them occasionally, Sarah no longer had the benefit of being labelled a "cool girl". Nor was she considered popular. No, because according to Mel, Sarah didn't deserve to be cool because she hung around with Whiny Weasley. Rose hated that name. She wasn't Whiny! Mel simply called her that out of spite. But still, despite all the grief Mel gave her, Sarah never wavered in her loyalties. For that, Rose was truly grateful.

The twins on the other hand, had chosen to stick by Mel. Rose had been disappointed to hear this. She had gotten on fairly well with them but she could rationalise their decision. Rose had always sensed that the twins were, deep down, very insecure. They required the popular status that Mel offered them, to make them feel better about themselves. Everyone has their quirks, Rose remembered. She remembered she would sit with them, discussing makeup and cosmetics, talking about Quidditch and classes. Now when they passed each other in the hallways, the twins would give her a curt nod and nothing more. Rose would sigh to herself and nod back. What else was she meant to do? Right now, Sarah and her were at the bottom of the social food-chain. They had no influence whatsoever. But she still had her real friends, Sarah, Scorpius and her family. Entering the library, Rose dropped her due books back into the book deposit.

Walking over to one of the tables, Rose placed her bag in one of the chairs. She then proceeded to head over to one of the shelves in the search of reading materials. Scrolling through the titles, Rose looked for something she hadn't read. "Potions 101, Magical Bests extended edition, History of Magic, revised", she had read all of them. She was about to move onto the next bookshelf when suddenly, her eyes caught sight of something and she paused. It was a beautiful purple covered book with gold writing. Under the author's name it read, "Luna Lovegood Scamander" Aunt Luna? Rose thought to herself. Probably one of her undiscovered plant encyclopedias. Well she hadn't read it yet so why not? Rose asked herself. She carefully gripped the sides of the novel an pulled it from the shelf. Glancing at the cover, that had a small layer of dust covering it, Rose glanced at the book. Her eyes widened in surprise. On the cover was a large image. It was moving obviously, but that was not what surprised her. In the image was a picture of a young Luna and surrounding her were her five friends, Harry and Ginny Potter, Ron and Hermione Weasley and Neville Longbottom. Rose gently touched the picture, looking down at the smiling picture of her parents. Ron was playing with Hermione's hair and she was laughing, smacking his hand away. It felt strange to Rose, to be looking at a younger version of her parents. She glanced over to the other side of the picture and saw her Aunt and Uncle. They were laughing too and Harry was hugging Ginny around her waist. Luna was next to Professor Longbottom who looked, Rose thought, much more alive, in this picture. Nowadays, especially in school, he was so serious. He was twirling Luna around like she was a ballerina and she was smiling. What is this book about? Rose asked herself. Looking above the picture, Rose read the beautiful gold lettering.

"Finding Friendship" Luna Lovegood Scamander. It read. Rose furrowed her brows. She never recalled her parents telling her that Aunt Luna had written such a book. Perhaps it was a limited edition. Sure enough as she flipped open the cover, there was a note written inside, in Aunt Luna's handwriting. It read:

Dearest friends,

This novel, "Finding Friendship" is a limited edition work and will not be released in major stores. I have sent a copy to the Hogwarts library in the hope that another such student like myself, might find it and learn a thing or two. I myself as a young student, struggled with being accepted and I was considered a bit of a social outcast. I hope my dear friends as you read this, you realise that you are not alone and that while the road ahead may be littered with challenges, the garden gnomes will lead you to the rainbow.

Yours lovingly,

Luna

Rose chuckled lightly. It sounded like Aunt Luna. Especially the bit about the garden gnomes. Maybe this was what she needed, Rose thought. Maybe if she read this book, it might help her, accept herself. Then she might be a little more like Aunt Luna, independent of others, unafraid of social stereotypes. Clutching the book firmly, she walked back to her seat and sat down. Settling into a comfortable position, she sighed and began to read. Chapter 1: Beginning... Rose was soon lost in the book, completely oblivious to what was happening around her. All too quickly 1/2 hour passed by. Rose looked up as she heard the clock chime. Sighing reluctantly, she knew she had to head to class. But she loved the novel. It was practically oozing Aunt Luna out of it's pages. She quickly head over to the librarian's desk to sign the book out. She suspected she would finish the book by the end of the evening. Getting her stuff, Rose was about to leave when suddenly she bumped into her cousin James. He was with another girl. She had long wavy black hair and dark brown eyes. They were smiling and chatting when James spotted Rose.

"Rosie!" he called.

Turning to face him, Rose smiled.

James beckoned her towards him.

After a hesitation, Rose approached.

"James I need to get going. Class is starting soon."

James waved her off.

"Rosie I want you to meet someone. I think you'll be great friends."

The girl beside him threw James an exasperated look.

"James now that you're practically launching me at her, she's gonna be scared out of her mind."

James rolled his eyes.

Rose simply folded her arms and waited.

"Rose this is a good friend of mine Madeline." he smiled.

"Hi" Madeline smiled

Rose couldn't help but smile back. She suddenly felt drawn to this girl with raven black hair. Her whole demeanor was friendly and open, not reserved and protective.

"So you in Slytherin?" Madeline asked.

Rose tensed. "What's it to you?" she asked.

Madeline laughed but James had a look of worry on his face. "Yea I know how it feels" she chuckled. "James makes me hang around with his whole family and I don't mind cos like them but I feel so weird cos I'm in Ravenclaw" she remarked, pointing to her blue tie.

Rose instantly relaxed. Finally! A family friend that wasn't in Griffindor!

"Bet you thought I was a Griffindor didn't you?" Madeline asked.

Rose nodded. "Yea it's just the whole being different thing. I get enough pressure from these guys to conform" she said glaring at James playfully. "I just now detest being surrounded by Griffindors."

Madeline nodded. "Yea me too."

James looked relieved. The tense moment had passed. He was one of the few who knew more than anyone else, how sensitive Rose was about House sorting. He probably should have mentioned that Madeline was a Ravenclaw earlier...

"You're in his year?" Rose asked changing the subject.

Madeline glanced at James and nodded. "Yup, both met through Quidditch. First year."

Rose's eyes widened. "OH! You're the famous Ravenclaw seeker? They say you're the best player for Ravenclaw ever! I swear I idolise you!" she wailed. "It's not fair you got to join the team in first year." she pouted.

Madeline raised up her hands. "Yup guilty as charged. But don't sweat it Rose. James may say that getting in during your first year is awesome but really it just means a ton of extra work. Trust me, first year's a lot more fun without the extra load of Quidditch."

Rose smiled at her comforting words. She now saw the rational behind Katie's decision.

Madeline continued. "But I hear you're a fab player too?" she asked.

Rose shrugged. "I play beater."

Madeline nodded eagerly. "Yea and that's a tough position to play! You must be really good."

Rose grinned. "Thanks"

Suddenly James who had just been watching the two girls eagerly talking to each other till now, glanced at his watch, his eyes widened.

"I hate to break up the hen party." he began.

Both girls glared at him annoyed.

"But don't you have a class to get to again Rose?" he smirked.

Rose's annoyed expression switched to panic.

"Oh Yea!" she threw her hands up. "I'm sorry but I gotta go!" she cried.

Madeline nodded. "Guess I'll see you round Rose. I hear there's a Slytherin game vs Hufflepuff coming up. I'll come watch you play with James. Heck we can bring the whole Griffindor clan."

Rose nodded eagerly. "That would be great. They can all watch me as I kick butt. See you!" Rose realised the more she talked to her, the more she like Madeline. She was interested in the same things as Rose, she was one of her idols, she was supposed to of international Quidditch standard and most importantly, she wasn't in Griffindor! How good could it get? Obviously really good. Maybe it was some of Aunt Luna's advice rubbing off on her...

She turned to leave but suddenly something hit her and she turned back.

"Hey James!" she called

The pair turned to face her.

"yea?" he called.

Rose smiled. "I think you were right. We are gonna be great friends!"


	17. Slytherin vs Hufflepuff

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I am proud to welcome you to this year's first Quidditch match of the season!" Outside in the stands, the crowd roared and cheered. Rose was standing amongst her teammates waiting for the match to start. She was gripping her broom and bat fiercely. Her mind was racing and her heart was pounding. The first Quidditch match. They had to win this, she thought. Her stomach made a low growling noise but Rose ignored it. She was used to her pre-match nerves. She had first experienced them last year when she was selected for the team. Rose remembered how she had jumped up and down in happiness as she had seen her name on the Quidditch board. But all too soon her smiled had faltered when she had seen that the other beater selected to be on the team was Scorpius.

Now a year later, Rose couldn't imagine a better person to play the position opposite her. Scorpius had proved last year, that he was a fantastic Quidditch player and had on numerous occasions, saved her from several possible bludger injuries. Strangely, Rose felt completely dependent on him regarding the issue of her safety. She knew he felt the same way. But it was only natural. Beaters were supposed to look out for one another and they had to have a strong sense of trust. Glancing over to him now, she saw him grinning at her. Excitement was etched over his face. Understandably. She grinned back at him.

"Nervous?" he called over to her.

Rose shrugged.

"A little"

In a heartbeat, Scorpius crossed from one end of the tent to the other. Reaching her, he immediately grabbed her hand.

Rose glanced up at him, her face flushing. His face was the epitome of calm. His grey eyes were clear, staring down at her.

"I wish I could be more like you" she muttered.

She felt the pressure on her hand increase.

"I got your back" it was barely audible.

"Me too" she whispered. After a pause, Rose added, "I trust you".

He didn't say anything. He didn't have to. Sighing, Rose felt the tension ebbing away from her. It was amazing that one person could be so impactful. She was constantly surprised by how easy it was for Scorpius to calm her down. Slowly but hesitantly, Scorpius released her hand.

"Good luck Rosie!"

Rose turned around to see Sarah standing in her Quidditch uniform, holding her broom and grinning at her.

Rose chuckled. "Yea, you too! Knock em' dead!"

Sarah smiled. "I should be telling you that! After all, you're the one with the bat." she nodded to the bat Rose was holding in her hand. Meanwhile, her face was so bright that it resembled the infamous Weasley family Christmas tree.

Rose knew all too well the reason for her enthusiasm. Everyone knew how much Sarah loved Quidditch but today was a special day. It was Sarah's first Quidditch match, ever. Even though she had tried out last year, Sarah had been rejected. Rose recalled how down she had been back then, moaning about how she would never get the chance to play the game. But luckily thanks to some counseling sessions from Rose, Sarah had agreed to try out again this year. This time, obviously, she had been accepted for the position of Chaser. Looking at her now, Rose was glad that she had given herself another shot at the tryouts. Seeing her so happy made Rose's heart glow.

Rose was about to reply when suddenly she heard someone clear their throat. Turning to face Katie, the team huddled around as their captain began to address them.

"Alright team!" Katie smiled around at them.

Everyone was looking at her eagerly, searching for some words of wisdom.

"First game of the season. We've got a winning team here people. So let's make the most of it! Let's show those Hufflepuffs how to play Quidditch! " she rallied.

There were several whoops and cheers.

"Just remember to keep your head, listen to one another and focus on what you have to get done. Now, let's get out there!" she cried.

"Yea!" Rose found herself shouting with the rest of her teammates.

Katie then proceeded to walk up to each of them individually. It was one of Katie's little rituals. Some parting words that for Rose, always instilled the desire to succeed and win. All the more that she wanted to impress her captain this year. It was Katie's last year at Hogwarts and Rose knew how badly she wanted to win the tournament. They had come very close last year but Ravenclaw had etched them out by 50 points. Watching as Katie approached her, Rose smiled encouragingly as Katie placed a hand on her shoulder.

Katie nodded at her. "You know what you have to do Rose. I believe in you and Scorpius. Show them who's boss, show them no mercy!" she almost sneered. Rose nodded as she watched Katie quickly turn away to speak to Scorpius. She knew Katie wanted to win, at any cost. Inwardly though, Rose knew where to draw the line. Even though she was in Slytherin, she didn't approve of intentional and unnecessary brutality. That was just unfair and cruel. But if those Hufflepuffs hurt her teammates, then yes, she would do everything in her power to make sure they got what they deserved. Feeling Katie's words sinking in, Rose dug her nails into her broom handle. She felt Scorpius' light squeeze on her shoulder. Reluctantly she relaxed her hand. It was uncanny how well he could read her.

Just then they heard the commentator about to introduce them. "So let me present the two teams: Slytherin and Hufflepuff!" Rose automatically mounted her broom and kicked her heels of the ground. The next thing she knew, she was flying with her teammates out of the tent and onto the Quidditch Pitch! There were cheers, loud shouts and even screams coming from the spectators. Out of the corner of her eyes, Rose spotted her entire Griffindor family plus Madeline sitting in the stands. They were holding a large green banner with the words, "Go Rose!" painted on it. Smiling, Rose continued flying to take her position. She hovered towards Scorpius who gave her a determined look. Nodding at him she looked towards Sarah who was gripping her broom with one hand and giving her a thumbs up with the other. Chuckling Rose gave her a thumbs up in return.

In the background she could hear the commentator explaining the rules of the game. Rose didn't need to listen. She had heard so many announcers making the same speech before. She could recite it in her sleep! Biting her lip she watched as Madame Hooch stepped out onto the pitch. She was carrying a large box , which contained the 3 types of balls.

"A nice clean game!" she shouted up to them

They nodded in response.

Madame Hooch pursed her lips but seemed satisfied. She glanced at the commentator who gave her the go ahead signal.

Bending down, she opened the box, letting the bludgers out first. They whizzed around the place, flying high into the air. One of them, almost hit Sarah as it was released and Rose watched anxiously as Sarah flinched on her broom. Glancing at Rose and noticing her facial expression, Sarah gave her a reassuring smile. Quick as a flash, Madame Hooch released the snitch. Rose saw it briefly flutter in front of her face before it took off and disappeared from her sight. Finally Madame Hooch took the Quaffle from the box. Glancing up at both teams she paused before throwing the ball straight up in the air. "Whee!" Rose heard the whistle. "And the game has begun!" came the commentator's voice.

Rose was whizzing through the air, right next to Scorpius, their eyes were set on only one thing. The bludger. Scorpius flew off in another direction and Rose was on her own. Flying closer and closer towards the bludger, Rose readied her bat, trying to find a suitable target. She spotted one of Hufflepuff's beaters heading towards the same bludger as her. Perfect, she thought. Increasing her speed, she swung her bat with all her might, straight towards the opposing beater. She saw the beater's eyes widen with surprise and fear as he saw the bludger coming towards him. Immediately, he swerved out of the way, the bludger missing it's target by inches. Darn! Rose thought. Now she watched in expectation as the beater swung his back towards her, aiming the bludger for her broom. Rose thinking quickly, took a steep dive, her broom plummeting with her on it, towards earth. Pulling up just before she hit the ground, Rose could hear the astonished gasps of the crowd as well as several cheers and hoots. "A fantastic maneuver from Miss Weasley!" shouted the commentator. Looking up Rose could still see the Hufflepuff beater chasing after her. He doesn't give up does he? Rose sighed. This was getting tiring.

Swerving around Rose faced the Hufflepuff beater, bat raised. For the first time, she could actually take a good look at his face. He had sandy blond hair, a long and lean face but a stubby jaw. He had deep ocean blue eyes. In all other cases Rose would have found him attractive. At the moment, she was slightly turned off by the fact that he seemed out to get her.

"Let it go!" she called out to him.

"Looks like some words are being exchanged on the pitch!" called the commentator.

Rose rolled her eyes annoyed at the commentator for stating the obvious.

However the Hufflepuff beater didn't seem to be in a forgiving mood. He merely sneered at Rose.

Rose was taken aback. She would have expected such behaviour from a Slytherin not a Hufflepuff. She suddenly realised that they were hovering in the middle of the pitch, glaring at one another. Rose heard the family whizzing sound of the bludger and glancing upwards saw that the other Hufflepuff beater had hit it towards her. Great, she thought. Two against one. Swinging out of the way, Rose smacked the bludger towards the Hufflepuff beater who was still hovering across from her glaring. But he avoided it once again. Now Rose realised that the Hufflepuff beater from above was a girl and she was heading straight towards her, her long brown hair, whipping against her face. In her eyes was pure anger. Not wanting to stick around, Rose took off at high speed, rising higher and higher until she was level with most of the players again. She took another swing, smacking an approaching bludger towards the girl but she deflected it easily. Groaning Rose looked around desperately. Where was Scorpius?

Both Hufflepuff beaters were on either side of her. Suddenly Rose understood. They were trying to take her out! A lone beater would be less of a threat. So much for fair play... Refusing to give up, Rose continued flying. The Hufflepuff boy swung his bat and the bludger came flying towards her again. Rose gasped and quickly ducked. The bludger almost whacked into the Hufflepuff girl but she managed to duck in time as well. Sneering at her fellow beater for a second, she quickly regained her cool and once again Rose was caved in. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the bludger coming back towards them. The female Hufflepuff noticed this too and Rose gulped as she swung her bat backwards, preparing for a final takedown. Rose squeezed her eyes bracing for and impact when she heard the breaking of wood. She looked down expecting to see her broom shattered by was stunned to see that it was the female Hufflepuff's broom, not hers, that was destroyed, the wood fractured and splintered and she, was plummeting to earth. The second bludger had appeared out of nowhere and had rammed straight into her broom handle. At this, Rose heard cheers from the Slytherin crowd, who had obviously been watching, infuriated as Rose had been bullied by the beaters and angry boos coming from the Hufflepuffs. Watching the scene unfold, the male Hufflepuff quickly took off, chasing after his fellow beater, probably in the hopes of saving her from a nasty crash.

Rose wheeled around on her broom to see where the bludger had come from. She broke into a wide grin as she saw Scorpius hovering right in front of her, her face flushed with relief. He had a look of fury on his face as he watched the female Hufflepuff fall but his expression changed dramatically as he caught sight of Rose staring at him.

He smiled and flew over, smacking her on the back. Then, leaning closer he murmured, "Its a good thing you trust me."


	18. Christmas with the Weasleys

"Merry Christmas!" Scorpius hesitantly approached Mrs Weasley, Rose's mother as she stepped forward to give him a hug. He couldn't believe he was here at all! When Rose had invited him over for Christmas in November, he had thought she was joking so he had said yes, only to find to his horror weeks later, that she had been serious! He had been forced to discuss the issue with his parents. While his father had not been excited at the thought of his son spending Christmas lunch with the Weasleys, his mother had been insistent that he should go. "It's only polite." she had told him. "After all, you told her that you would be going." Scorpius had protested at this, insisting once again, that he thought Rose had been joking. But even his father had to admit, it was not nice to cancel on people after accepting their invitations. "Besides" his father had added, "It won't be so bad son. Her whole family might be filled with Griffindor scum but surely she must have some respectable traits in her to have ended up in Slytherin."

And so it had been settled. Scorpius had been woken bright and early that Christmas morning, had opened presents with his parents, sung some carols and then eventually he was packed off to the Weasleys' at lunchtime. Scorpius got ready with a sinking feeling in his stomach. It wasn't as if he didn't want to spend Christmas with Rose. It was just that he felt intimidated by her family. There were so many of them andRose was the only one not in Griffindor. But mostly he was afraid that he wouldn't fit in amongst them. Traveling through the Floo Network, Scorpius had arrived at the Burrow in no time. Instantly upon his arrival, he had been surrounded by a sea of red headed people. It was almost like his worst nightmare. Being in a room, full of Weasleys and several Potters. He could recognise a few faces here and there but there were so many of them! As people had poked and peered, trying to ask him who he was and what he was doing there, Scorpius had breathed a sigh of relief as he felt a familiar hand grab his. "Rose!" he had cried. Rose had been wearing a gold/green sweater and blue jeans. Embroidered in gold on the middle of the sweater read, RW, her initials. Her hair, usually let down in school, had been pulled back into a neat ponytail.

Pulling him away from the crowd, she had effectively maneuvered her way to the kitchen with him in tow. The kitchen was spacious. Bright tiles adorned the walls. Pots and pans were magically enchanted and were scrubbing themselves. Dish-cloths were cleaning plates and the kettle was boiling the water on it's own. Scorpius blinked in surprise. Even his mother didn't use this much magic on a regular basis. "Mum!" she had called. Rose's mother had turned around. She hadn't been the only one in the kitchen. He recognised Ginerva Potter, Harry Potter's wife and an older woman with a shawl over her shoulders whom he assumed to be Rose's grandmother. Scorpius didn't quite know what to think of Rose's mother at first. The first thing he noticed was her eyes. They were the same chocolate brown as Rose's. Her hair was curly like Rose's too but it was brown, not auburn. She was wearing a similar sweater to Rose's but hers was red and gold with no initials Seeing Scorpius, she smiled. As he hugged her now, Scorpius suddenly relaxed. All his fears about not fitting in with the Weasleys suddenly were gone. At the end of the day, they were exactly the same as him. They were here, together to celebrate, just like him. And from that one hug, Scorpius knew, there was a lot of love in the family. Rose was so lucky...

"So Scorpius..." Rose's mother pulled away, "How's Christmas been so far?"

Scorpius smiled, "Great uh opened presents and sang carols and stuff. By the way thanks for having me Mrs Weasley."

Mrs Weasley smiled. "That's good. We're gonna have a bit of caroling too. Maybe you can join in? Oh and your very welcome dear but really, it's our pleasure to have you here. Rose speaks so highly of you when she comes home so I thought it would be wonderful if the whole family could meet you to see for themselves!"

Scorpius nodded and flushed slightly. He would take that as a compliment.

"Rose" she continued, "Do you want to take him up to your room? Or give him a tour about the house? I'll call you guys when lunch is ready." she smiled again.

Rose nodded eagerly. "Yea sure! See you mum!" she called as she grabbed Scorpius' hand again.

"You're mum's really nice." Scorpius looked at Rose.

She smiled. "Yea I think she's nice too."

She was bounding up the steps and Scorpius was struggling to follow her.

The next thing Scorpius knew they were standing in front 8 large oak doors. Between the fourth and fifth door there was a large gap, big enough for another room. Scorpius' eyes widened. This was a bigger house than he thought it would be. But then who was he to judge? He hadn't actually entered through the front door so he didn't know what the Burrow looked like from the outside. Rose leaned against one of them. "So here's the tour of the house. Basically, we all live here together," she explained. "My family as well as James, Albus, Lily, their parents and my grandparents. The original burrow was burnt down during the second wizarding war. After it was over though, my family rebuilt it and expanded it. My parents, Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny wanted to live here since they spent so much of their childhood in it so that, produced the current living situation." she concluded. Scorpius listened with interest. They certainly were a tight knit family...

Rose pointed to the door on her extreme left. "My grandparents room" she stated. The pointed to the next two doors closer to the left. "My parents room and my Uncle and Aunt's room" she explained. She approached the fourth door, in the middle. She grabbed the handle and opened it slightly. "Be warned" she murmured. "James' room" She held the door ajar slightly to let Scorpius peer in. Plastered on the walls were images of the Griffindor crest, his four poster bed, decorated with matching red and gold sheets. There were posters up on the walls and a picture of James and a Ravenclaw girl that looked about his age with black hair and brown eyes in the far corner of the room. There was also a connecting door at the far right. Following Scorpius' gaze, Rose explained. "Connecting bathroom which he shares with Al. You don't want to see." she told him, her face without a hint of humor.

Closing the door, Rose opened Al's bedroom door. His room was a bit messier than James' with clothes strewn on the floor but the room itself looked about the same, filled with red and gold. Rose promptly shut the door. She moved on to the sixth door. "Hugo's" she murmured. Scorpius was surprised at the room. Hugo's loyalty towards Griffindor was clear with several posters hanging here and there but there were pictures of Muggle girls everywhere, with images of the muggle contraption called the motorcycle splattered the walls and some were lying on the floor. Rose cleared her throat. "Erm Hugo prefers unmoving photographs" she mumbled indicating towards the still photos of the muggle girls. She skipped passed the seventh door. Scorpius looked at her in surprise. Catching his look, she shook her head. "That's Lily's room. She pretty private about her stuff."

They had approached the last door. It was obviously Rose's room. Opening the door, Scorpius stepped in. Rose's room was the complete opposite of her cousins. Slytherin banners were elegantly hung over the walls, her bed sheets, a deep rich emerald green. The floor was wooden and the room itself was neat with everything put away. There were several Quidditch posters on the wall but what most caught his eye was her picture collage. Rose had complied all the pictures taken from Hogwarts and had compiled them all on her back wall. They were neatly arranged all of them moving, each one a special memory. To his pleasant surprise, Scorpius noticed himself in many of them. Suddenly he heard the loud clear voice of Mrs Weasley, "Lunch Everyone!"

Turning reluctantly away from the images, Scorpius faced Rose who was leaning against the door frame, waiting. Closing the room door, Scorpius stepped out onto the landing. He looked to his left and saw a ninth door. His eyebrow raised in surprise. Rose laughed. "Second bathroom." With that she turned and he followed as they hurried back down the staircase. He found himself in the living room and noticed the fireplace where he had arrived. Glancing around now, the room was littered with chairs and couches, most of them red. The windows were large and airy and there were homespun carpets on the floor. Objects such as rocking chairs were all enchanted, rocking back and forth on their own. Looking to his left Scorpius saw the dining area. It was a massive oak table with numerous chairs, the number, he could not count. Floating just above the table were magically enchanted candles. Several of the dishes had already been laid out for them and several people were setting the table with plates and cutlery. Scorpius had to blink several times to know what he was seeing was real. This was amazing! The whole atmosphere about this house felt so airy and welcoming. It was lightyears away from Malfoy Manor which seemed dingy and gloomy in comparison.

He felt Rose's hand on his shoulder, bringing him back to Earth.

"After awhile" she commented. "You get used to it. All the crazy magic and the sheer number of people."

Scorpius turned to face her. "But I love it!"

She grinned. "Me too"

"Am I the only person you invited?" he asked her.

She rolled her eyes, exasperated.

"Please Malfoy don't flatter yourself. Of course I invited others. Like Sarah and all. But you know its Christmas so they just couldn't come..." she trailed.

"I'm glad I did." Scorpius looked at her with great sincerity.

She nodded. "Yea me too."

"Alright everyone!" Scorpius turned to see several of the adults carrying in the last of the dishes. He instantly got out of the way and watched as the delicious food passed him, the rich aromas wafting up towards his nose. But all too soon they were out of his reach. Setting the dishes down, the adults hurried into the kitchen again and returned with trays that carried glasses of champagne. For the children, there were soft drinks.

Rose had grabbed two glasses with the soft drinks and handed one to Scorpius. He smiled to thank her even though he had no idea what was about to happen. Everyone seemed to grab a glass of their own. "A Christmas toast! He saw one of the adults stand up and raise his glass. He had ginger hair and a large, square face. "My Uncle Charlie." Rose murmured in his ear. He nodded. "I propose a toast!" Charlie continued, "To a great year, with much joy, love, peace, happiness and success. All of which we have so fortunately benefitted from. Let us pray and hope that this happiness will last till the next time we toast together, for we are blessed. Let us celebrate the feast laid out before us!" he called smiling at the female adults who nodded at the acknowledgment. "Let us celebrate our togetherness! And let us... also welcome others who have come to be part of our family gathering." he smiled at Scorpius who suddenly felt like he was being scrutinized by the entire Weasley clan. But soon their eyes reverted back to Charlie. "To a merry Christmas!" he called.

"Merry Christmas!" everyone called. "Merry Christmas" Rose raised her glass towards Scorpius who did the same. With that, everyone took a sip from their glass.

"That was our customary Christmas toast." Rose sighed as she drank.

He nodded. "I could tell."

She smirked.

He chuckled. "You're smirks are getting better. Who knows? You could pass off as a Malfoy!"

Rose laughed at this but suddenly stopped and thought for a moment. "I want you to meet someone." she told him and once again he was being led through the room. They stopped in front of a tall man with Ginger hair. He was laughing when he turned to face them and Scorpius saw that Rose had inherited his smile. He gulped, realising who he was looking at.

Rose chuckled at this. "Dad, meet Scorpius." she smiled.

Mr Weasley's face went blank and he stared at Scorpius for a moment, his brows furrowed. Scorpius couldn't make out what he was thinking. He shuffled his feet uncomfortably. He glanced at Rose then back at Scorpius.

"Nice to meet you sir. I wanted to say, thank you for having me and you have a wonderful home... and family." Scorpius blurted out, sticking out his hand.

There was an agonizing pause before Mr Weasley stone cold face broke into a smile and he reached for Scorpius' hand. "A pleasure to have you celebrate with us. Really. You know, I've heard some things about you young man. How you've been giving my Rosie grief. " he said in a low voice.

Scorpius winced slightly.

Rose just smiled encouragingly at him.

"But also" Mr Weasley continued, "What a great chap you've been when she's needed you. So thanks for taking care of my girl. Even if you are in Slytherin..."

Scorpius couldn't help but smirk as he saw the twinkle in Mr Weasley's eyes. He was surprised how grateful the Weasleys' appeared to be, but grateful for what?. After all, it wasn't hard to be Rose's friend. There wasn't much to hate about her. Maybe they were referring to the time when she had fallen out with Mel and gang. His fists tightened as he thought about Mel. He still couldn't believe she had done something so horrible to Rose! After the falling out saga, he hadn't looked in Mel's direction since. She had of course, tried on numerous occasions to approach him, but he avoided her like the plague. Rose had told him later on that Mel had always fancied him, which had made him despise her even more.

"Ah that smirk!" Scorpius suddenly was shaken out of his thoughts as Mr Weasley spoke. "Your father employed it very effectively." Scorpius wondered if this was meant to be an insult but he saw that Mr Weasley was laughing, obviously reminiscing.

Standing beside him, Rose had wrapped her arm around her father and was smiling at him. Mr Weasley in turn looked down at his daughter and stroked her face fondly. To Scorpius the moment was bittersweet. It was touching to see Rose and her father like that but he felt a pang, realising he would never have that relationship with his parents.

Mr Weasley looked up again. "Something different about you though lad. Not quite like him appearance wise..."

"The jaw." Scorpius responded instantly. It was a comment he received often. His jaw was not as pointed as his father's. It was rounder, giving his face a softer look.

"It's my mother's jaw." he added.

Mr Weasley seemed to process this before nodding.

He stepped forward and patted Scorpius on the back, winking at Rose playfully who in turn, smacked her father's arm, laughing.

"Merry Christmas sir!" Scorpius smiled, all the anxiety about meeting Rose's father gone.

Mr Weasley gazed down at Scorpius. There was something in his eyes, that he couldn't quite place. Like a mixture of emotions. Happiness, forgiveness, acceptance and surprise. Strange... Scorpius wondered. But he hardly had time to think about that.

Because now he was grinning at him again. Gosh Rose's grin was almost identical! Rose's father must be fun to live with, Scorpius thought. In fact it seemed that there was something special about Rose's family in general. Each of them was truly unique. It was something very... magical. It was the only way Scorpius could describe it. And now, raising his glass full of champagne towards Scorpius, Mr Weasley spoke, "Merry Christmas son."


	19. Drama on the Train

Getting onto the Hogwarts Express, Rose's stomach was filled with butterflies. She wasn't nervous but her pulse was unusually fast. Then again, so was very else's. It was the start of a brand new year at Hogwarts, Rose's fourth. Officially her friends and her were no longer considered the juniors of the school! Experiencing the newfound feeling of a little more independence, Rose strode onto the train. She watched with amusement as the first years, scurried passed her to find their own compartments, looking very intimidated at the sight of her. She had once been just like them. Gripping her rucksack, Rose searched the compartments for her friends. She suddenly caught sight of Albus. Her brother was standing next to him and the pair were chatting, probably Rose imagined, about Quidditch. Noticing Rose's eyes on him. Albus looked up from his conversation and smiled. He raised his hand to say hello. She smiled and waved in response. Even though Albus and her were on good terms, Rose always felt a pang when she spoke to him. Nowadays because of the house and schedule differences, they hardly had the time to talk. Rose often feared that she didn't know who her cousin was any more. But now as she glanced into his eyes, a wave of relief suddenly washed over her. Albus was constantly changing on the outside and she couldn't stop that but that look in his emerald green eyes spoke volumes. They read: I'm Albus. I'm, still Albus. Your cousin and your friend.

Smiling to herself, Rose moved on, searching the compartments once more. Hearing Sarah's trademark laugh echoing from one of the compartments at the end, Rose hurried over, following the sound of her voice. Finally reaching her destination, Rose swung the compartment door open and threw herself onto a seat next to Scorpius.

"It's good to see you too Rose" he chuckled, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

Rose rolled her eyes at him and smiled a hello at Leo and Greg who were sitting on either side of Sarah, opposite Scorpius and her. Sarah and her had grown closer to Scorpius and his friends last year, especially after the Mel drama saga, when the girls were ostracised. Scorpius called it, the banding together of the outlaws. Now they hung out with the boys almost all the time. Surprisingly, Rose actually enjoyed the boys' company. They weren't any good at giving advice regarding makeup or perfume and they were blunt, never pausing to think before speaking. Sarah found this insensitive but Rose appreciated the honesty. At least she knew what was going on in their minds. She didn't have to do any guesswork. At the same time they were also good fun, constantly cracking jokes to lighten the mood. Now looking across at them, Leo and Greg smiled back at her.

"How was your holidays Rose?" Greg asked her.

Rose shrugged, "So so I guess. Went to Romania finally to visit my Uncle Charlie!"

"You see Rose" Sarah was suddenly sitting up, smiling at her. "You finally got the chance to visit Romania. Remember you were dying to go?" she chuckled.

Rose grinned remembering at the start of her second year how peeved she had been when the twins told her that had gotten to go and she hadn't. The memory brought back a surge of emotions regarding Mel and twins but Rose quickly pushed them away.

"What about you Leo?" she changing the subject.

Leo looked like he had been thinking about something and seemed to snap out of a trance.

"Oh sorry... did I bother you?" Rose asked apologetically.

Leo immediately shook his head and smiled encouragingly. "No no Rose. My holidays were good."

Rose nodded. "That's good to hear."

She became distracted as she gazed out the window, hearing the train whistle blow. There was a slight jolt and the train began to move, slowly at first, then building up speed as they began to pull out of the station. Rose could hear the rumble of the engines and could see the familiar white smoke, signaling they were well on their way. Soon the country side was whirring past them. Rose leaned back and sighed, satisfied. She hadn't noticed till now but Scorpius' arm was still draped over her shoulder. Trying to ignore it. Rose closed her eyes. She was hoping to get some sleep before they reached Hogwarts. But no sooner had she settled into a comfortable position, there was an annoying and particularly loud whisper in her ear.

"Psst, Rose are you asleep?" Scorpius asked her.

Rose opened one eye and glared at him.

"Not any more!" she snapped.

"Oh... so what do you wanna do now?"

"Sleep"

"But you can't sleep the whole way..."

"Watch me"

"You're boring"

"Go pester Sarah or the boys..."

"Leo's reading. Sarah's napping and Greg is...eating. They're boring too."

"Can you leave me in peace?"

"No"

Rose looked up at Scorpius again who was smirking at her. She sighed in resignation and sat up. Scorpius now had a look of triumph on his face. His strategy had been to pester her into cooperation. Looking across the compartment she saw her three friends exactly as Scorpius had described them. Leo was reading some book on potions which Rose had read in her second year. Sarah was sleeping, her head on Greg's shoulder. And Greg, completely oblivious to this, was tucking into a box of Bertie Botts every flavour beans. It seemed that she was the only one willing to succumb to Scorpius' pleas. Rose sighed again.

"Ok what do you want to do?" she asked him.

Scorpius shrugged his shoulders.

Rose ruffled her hair in frustration.

"You wake me up and then you don't know what you want to do? Why are you so mean?" she asked him.

He shrugged again. "It was just boring sitting there. We could just talk..."

Rose cocked her head, "Yea ok... about what?"

He smirked again at this. "Sarah and Greg" he muttered indicating towards the pair.

Rose's eyes widened at what Scorpius appeared to be suggesting.

"What!" she muttered. "No way!"

Scorpius chuckled. "Well that's not the story I heard. Apparently the two of them met up over the holidays..." he trailed off.

Rose pretended to vomit. "Merlin's beard! I can't believe Sarah didn't tell me!" she cried in shock.

Though now that she thought about it, it did make some sense. Last year, especially after Christmas, Sarah and Greg had spent a lot of time with one another. Rose always assumed it was for work or it was because they had a lot in common. It was true. You wouldn't think it were true because Greg and Sarah never seemed to be on the same wavelength. Where Sarah offered clever solutions, Greg made inappropriate suggestions. Where Sarah cracked witty jokes, Greg fumbled through slapstick comedy. But at the same time, they were both into the same kind of music, liked the same subjects and shared the same ideologies. With all that in common, they would have bonded for sure! Rose shuddered. How did she miss that? All the hugging and smiled exchanged? All the "personal jokes" cracked between them? And the worst part was Sarah hadn't told her! Why? Aaargh! She was so blind... Suddenly she felt someone's gaze on her and she turned.

Scorpius seemed to have a look of pity, scrawled all over his face.

"Don't worry Rose. I only found out from Leo about 15 minutes ago when we met up in the compartment. And he only found out cos he saw Greg stroking Sarah's cheek when he got to the platform. He went to confront them and they admitted, that they're an item."

Rose shuddered hearing the word, "stroking". It was foul.

Scorpius saw her reaction and laughed. "Apparently, they didn't want to tell us because of some kind of conflict of interest..."

Rose rolled her eyes. "I think they just didn't want to get looks of disgust thrown at them every five seconds, which is exactly what I'll be giving them from now on." she muttered, glaring at them again.

Out of all the ridiculous things Sarah had done, this was by far the worst. Greg was a nice guy. He would definitely take care of Sarah and wouldn't intentionally hurt her but in Rose's eyes, he was also an OAF! His brain power was about a quarter of Sarah's. Sarah deserved someone much better than that. Inwardly Rose groaned. She had just realised something. That was probably the reason why Sarah hadn't told her about the relationship. She knew that Rose would probably have taken offense to it. Well if that had been the reason, Rose thought, Sarah had been right. Rose was completely against the idea! Completely. In her sadistic little Slytherin mind, she was devising ways to break the pair up.

Scorpius suddenly smacked her on the back of her head.

Rose whipped around, wand raised, "What the heck!"

"Don't start thinking about how to break them up Rose!" he muttered, reading her mind.

"But Scorpius!" she whined, furiously gesturing towards the pair, her eyes filled with repulsion. "It's against the natural order of things!"

At this he laughed. "Yea Rose but for now it looks like whatever they have is working out just fine. Why don't you let them give it a shot? Not even for Greg, for Sarah?" he implored.

Rose folded her arms stubbornly like a six year old. Suddenly it felt like Scorpius was the responsible adult here.

"Fine" she muttered after a long pause, tucking her wand back into her pocket. "For Sarah!" she emphasised. Even though she didn't agree with Sarah's choice, she had to support her as her best friend. She knew that if she were in that position, Sarah would. Plus, Rose pondered to herself, she could have picked worse.

Scorpius relaxed and ruffled her hair, much to her disdain.

"Good girl" he coaxed.

Glancing over to the sleeping form of Sarah and the eating form of Greg he grinned.

"I'm surprised that this whole time, they didn't realise we were talking about them. We weren't really whispering." he mumbled to Rose.

Rose nodded, "Yea they must be pretty thick. I thought I was pretty loud..."

Scorpius was nodding in agreement when suddenly Greg, who had until that point been in his own little world, eating, now stopped and looked directly at them.

"But not as thick as you think" he said looking at them, grinning. Rose was about to ask what he was talking about when suddenly, Sarah's eyes shot open and she was sitting upright. She wasn't groggy at all, like she hadn't been sleeping. Greg comfortably wrapped his arm around her and she leaned on his shoulder. Rose's eyes widened as she realised what had happened.

"No way!" she cried. "You guys were listening the whole time?" she asked them.

Sarah smiled cheekily and nodded. "We had a feeling Scorpius would tell you about us but we didn't want to be "around" for your big emotional breakdown. At the same time though it was pretty fun to hear what you had to say..."

Rose glanced at Scorpius who looked just as surprised as she did. Suddenly a wave of awkwardness overcame her. Her friends had listened to her ranting on and on about them! That couldn't be good. Pondering what to do next, Rose scratched her neck.

"I erm... I'm sorry about what I said guys. Really. I was just really taken aback. I didn't know what to say! I hope your'e not offended..." she smiled hopefully at Greg.

Greg laughed and waved if off. "Yea no offense taken. I mean even I have to admit Rosie, sometimes I can get pretty thick. The only right decision I've ever made is when I asked Sarah to be my girlfriend."

Scorpius snorted at this but Rose ignored him and smiled with relief as Sarah and Greg glanced at each other happily. Scorpius was right. She should be happy for them, she convinced herself. If Greg made Sarah smile, if he had her back, if he respected her, that was more than enough for Rose. Who was she to judge anyway. At least Sarah had a boyfriend. She didn't.

Glancing at her best friend, Rose continued, "I really am happy for you Sarah."

Sarah glanced at her for a moment. "I know" she smiled.

Rose shook her head, "And I'm sorry when I said you could do better. Greg's a good person. I just never expected it you know? You... and him" she said gesturing towards Greg.

Sarah nodded. "I know."

She continued. "I'm sorry too Rose."

Rose was confused, "For what?"

"For not telling you about us."

"Oh, that."

"It's just I knew you would react the way you did and I really like Greg... It's important to me that you approve" Sarah looked at her hopefully.

Rose looked at Greg, then Sarah and then at the both of them. Greg was clutching Sarah's hand. Rose realised then and there that she couldn't change their minds. Heck! They were in love! She stared at them long and hard and suddenly, in some strange warped way, they actually looked cute together. Or were her eyes playing tricks on her? She sighed again. Scorpius was gazing at her, silently telling her, "Just say yes already!" Rose nodded.

"Of course Sarah. I only want you to be happy." she smiled.

"Oh Rose!" Sarah quickly got up from her seat and enveloped her in a hug. Rose hugged her tightly. "Thanks for understanding." she murmured in Rose's ear.

Rose pulled away and gazed at Sarah. "You'd do the same for me and hey! At least you have a boyfriend..."

Sarah looked at her with a twinkle in her eye. "You may be getting one sooner than you think." she teased.

Rose frowned at her. "Sarah do you know something you're not telling me?" she asked.

Sarah covered her mouth and shook her head, smiling.

Exasperated, Rose smacked Sarah's shoulder but she refused to give in.

"You'll see." she murmured mysteriously.

Rose rolled her eyes and sat back down. Sarah took her seat next to Greg. Suddenly Leo, who had practically been non existent all this while, looked up from his book.

"Well now that we are all one big happy family again, maybe I can finally get some peace!" he chuckled.

Everyone stared at him in amusement.

"Where have you been all this time mate?" Scorpius teased.

The girls laughed.

Rose still chuckling, got up. "Lavatory" she explained and stepped out of the compartment, leaving her still giggling friends behind. That was probably the weirdest but most interesting conversation she had ever had on a train! Heading towards the lavatory, Rose passed by a compartment. She saw Mel and the twins inside and rolling her eyes, she hurried along. Suddenly she heard the compartment door slide open and she heard Mel call her name. Rose bit her lip. Crap, she thought. Turning around slowly, Rose faced Mel. She had her hands on her hips. Her hair was pulled back into a slick pony tail and her eyes were flashing. Rose gulped with fear.

"Where do you think you're going Weasel?" she sneered.

Rose glared at her. "None of your business."

"Well I think it is my business" she snapped. "If you think you have the right to roll your eyes at me when you're walking by Weasel, you're sorely mistaken."

"Shit!" Rose thought to herself. Why did she have to go and roll her eyes? Suddenly, she didn't need to use the lavatory.

"Leave me alone!" she cried.

Mel glared at her even harder. "I don't think so. Disrespectful children need to be taught a lesson..."

Rose could see Mel reaching for her wand in her back pocket. Instinctively, Rose reached for hers as well. But a second later, she let go of it again, relaxing. This was pathetic.

"Get away! It's not worth our time!" she said. Rose tried to get pass Mel to reach her compartment. She shoved past her and began on her way. But no sooner had she passed Mel she heard Mel shout a spell and suddenly she was off the ground, flying forward, past the compartments. She landed with a thump, head first on the floor. Yup this was definitely the most dramatic train ride she had ever taken. She rubbed her throbbing head. Several people had heard the noise and were peering anxiously out of their compartments. Rose forced herself to get up and turned to face a smirking Mel. Attacking a wizard when their back was turned. That was unforgivable. If Mel wanted to play this game, Rose could play. She whipped out her wand.

"Reducto!" she shouted at Mel.

A huge force of energy burst from her wand and propelled towards Mel, knocking her off her feet. Mel landed, hard on her back. Rose could hear the loud thump and winced slightly. That had to hurt. By now almost everyone was looking out of their compartments with curiosity. Some of them were cheering the girls on. Others were whispering excitedly. Some of the younger students, looked scared. Rose caught sight of Albus and Hugo. Hugo had a wide grin on his face, having just witnessed his sister's impressive spell but Albus had a look of disapproval. Interestingly though, as he caught Rose's eye, the corners of his mouth twitched upwards and he winked at her.

Tearing her gaze away from her cousin, Rose looked at her fallen opponent.

Mel had gotten up and was glaring at her, slightly hunched over, leaning forward.

Rose hissed at her. She had never felt more like a Slytherin. Her mother would have a fit if she could see her now.

"Finite Incantatum!" she called.

However Mel was alert this time and easily deflected her spell.

There were murmurs of disappointment coming from the audience but Rose ignored them. This wasn't about putting up a show. Both of them had a score to settle and it was now or never.

"Expelliarmus!" she called.

Again, Mel was on her toes and the spell was deflected.

Moments later, Mel shot the same spell towards her.

Rose quickly deflected it with a flick of her wand.

She frowned at Mel. Focusing she muttered, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Much to Rose's delight, Mel was now being lifted into the air, floating higher and higher towards the ceiling of the train. Mel, was kicking her legs and screaming.

"Put me down you half blood!" she screamed.

"Uh oh!" there were shouts from the crowd.

Rose glared at Mel. "If you wanted to be put down, you could have just asked..." she murmured. Suddenly she broke the spell and Mel plummeted towards the floor of the train.

"Crash!" she landed on the ground, sprawled on all fours, like a dog.

There were hoots and cheers from the crowd. Rose saw that Albus was clapping for her. She smiled and pretended to take a bow. However she was so busy acknowledging the crowd that she didn't see Mel get up. Suddenly the happiness on Al's face turned to horror.

"Rose look out!" he cried.

Rose whirled to face Mel but it was too late.

Her opponent's spell was whirling her through the air and she landed on her back. Suddenly there was a sharp, jabbing pain in her leg. Looking down, Rose's eyes widened in surprise to see that her leg was bleeding. There were gasps of horror and shock coming from the crowd. Albus seemed to be coming forward to help her but Rose stuck her palm out, stopping him. She had to do this on her own. Hesitantly, Albus obeyed. Hugo seemed to be standing there in horror. His face seemed to have frozen solid. Poor guy, Rose thought.

She tried to get up but she couldn't. She gasped. It was like her leg was on fire. It was burning and the pain was now spreading, up to her stomach. Looking up and choking she saw Mel smirking in satisfaction. She could see Albus on standby ready to step in if she needed him. Resigned to her defeat, she was about to call for her cousin's help when everyone went silent. It was almost an eerie silence. Everyone seemed to be staring at something behind her. Mel's face went stone cold and Albus' eyes widened. Rose looked around to see what they were all so shocked about. She felt Scorpius' hand grab her arm gently, helping her up. Everyone was watching, waiting in dead silence. Eagerly, Rose wrapped her arm around Scorpius' shoulder and groaning, heaved herself off the ground. Scorpius was was looking at her with concern, but remained silent. She saw Albus staring at Scorpius with a... grateful look in his eyes. Inwardly Rose smiled. It was about time, those two agreed on something. Hugo too, seemed to have broken out of his trance and was wearing a smile of relief

He mumbled in her ear, "I leave you alone for 5 minutes and you get into a fight. Honestly"

Rose chuckled slightly but winced as the burning sensation that had spread to the lower half of her body, took over her mind.

Scorpius glanced down at her leg and muttered a healing charm.

Rose watched in amazement and relief as she felt the pain slowly subside. Eventually, the wound healed right before her eyes. The blood was gone and her jeans were pristine again.

Still gripping Scorpius' shoulder, she turned to face Mel again who was looking at the pair with a look of fury. Her arms were folded, her wand dangerously twitching. If looks could kill... Rose thought.

Rose raised her wand feebly not sure what to do next but Scorpius beat her to it. Now he had suddenly changed. His eyes were on fire and he was barring his teeth. Without warning he swished his wand and cast a non-verbal spell. Everyone gasped. To Rose the scene was unfolding, agonizingly, in slow motion. But the next thing she knew, Mel was sprawled on the ground again with blood dripping from her nose. She was staring at Rose and Scorpius with a defeated and pained look in her eyes. For a split second, Rose felt sorry for her. The murmurs and whispers started up again. Somehow everyone knew, the fight was over. Both opponents were too defeated to continue. The crowd began to diffuse, with people returning to their compartments.

The twins hurried over to help Mel up. Rose felt Scorpius' gaze on her and she turned to face him. He glanced at her softly for a moment. She stared at him in shock at what he had done. For her. Rose had to admit, despite all the violence involved, what he had done had been very sweet. A wave of giddiness suddenly over came her but luckily, Albus and Hugo were hurrying over, pushing people out of their way in the process, to support her. While her left arm was still around Scorpius' shoulder, Albus took her right arm and put it around his. Hugo stood there a little childishly, unsure of what to do next. Rose didn't mind the fact that he wasn't doing anything. Just the fact that he was standing there, reminded her that she meant something to him and that she could count on him for support. That in itself, was very comforting.

Noticing her brother's stare she smiled. "I'm fine Hugo, really"

Albus chuckled. "Remind me never to cross you. I'd have to deal with him as well." he said gesturing to Scorpius.

Scorpius' grip on Rose tightened but she shook her head at him.

"You didn't have to do that. I could have handled it" she told him.

He smirked at her. "Yea you were handling fine." he rolled his eyes.

Rose grunted. "Ok so maybe I was struggling a little."

Hugo snorted.

"Ok maybe a lot!" Rose stammered. "What I'm trying to say is... thanks I guess." She felt Scorpius squeeze her shoulder. "All of you. You know for just supporting me" she paused, "literally" she smiled at Albus who patted her on the back and at Hugo who delicately and carefully brushed the stray hairs away from her face.

"Who wouldn't do anything for you Rosie?" Albus asked.

Rose didn't answer. It was a rhetorical question. Everyone smiled. Having all the people she cared about surrounding her, Rose suddenly felt calm. It was wonderful. She felt free, as if nothing else in the world seemed important to her right now. It was just her, on the train, with her friends.

Just then she saw Scorpius turn his head and she watched as he glared at Mel who was limping back to her compartment, the twins on either side of her.

He sneered as Mel entered her compartment and shut the door and muttered a single word, "Bitch"


	20. A Double Invitation

"Ladies and Gentlemen, please be reminded that for next week's fourth years' ball, you are required to attend in formal attire. Boys are to be in dress robes and girls..." Rose ignored the announcer and she walked past, entering the Great Hall. All month there had been so much activity and excitement regarding the fourth years' ball. It was one of the many traditions at Hogwarts. For the first time, the fourth years would participate in a formal ball, marking their progression into the upper years of Hogwarts. It was also meant to train them for similar events in the future. But at the same time, it was the first event where boys were allowed to ask girls to go as their dates. This little detail in particular, had been the cause of much excitement amongst the female fourth years. Rose rolled her eyes. Disgusting. She didn't need to go with a boy. In fact, she didn't need to go at all! Why should she have to waste time and energy to get all dressed up and pretty just so that she could go and waste her time socialising? As if people didn't already do that every day... She would rather write an essay on divination. Bleh. Chuckling to herself, Rose had always known inwardly, that balls would not be her thing. Even as a child, instead of playing dress up, she had always preferred to play Quidditch with the boys.

Unfortunately it seemed that the rest of the fourth years didn't seem to agree with her negative opinion on the event. Every five minutes a fourth year boy could be seen asking a girl to go with him to the event! Sadly, even Sarah, good sensible Sarah, had succumbed to the evil, twisted lure of the ball. She had been talking about it non stop ever since the date of the ball had been announced. And now that Greg had asked her, obviously Greg had asked her, she had even greater reason to celebrate. As Rose was heading towards the Slytherin table, she saw her hurrying towards her. Rose sighed and braced herself. All she had wanted was a quiet lunch! Just as she sat down, Sarah reached her.

"Hi Rosie!" she chirped.

Rose bit her lip before she turned to face Sarah's glowing face.

Scorpius, who was sitting next to her and had been a key witness on several occasions, to Sarah's temporary insanity, snorted.

Sarah didn't even seem to blink an eyelid.

Rose plastered a smile on her face and looked at Sarah. Sarah was her best friend and all but recently with all the hype about the ball, she had been getting on her nerves.

"Yea Sarah?"

"What colour?"

"Beg pardon?"

"What coloured dress should I wear?" she cried, the smile on her face fading slightly.

Rose shook her head. Poor thing. She didn't know what to wear, she thought sarcastically.

"As long as it covers a decent amount of your skin Sarah, I don't care what you wear" she muttered.

"But Rosie!" Sarah whined.

Rose sighed, rubbing her temples. "Ask Scorpius she begged."

Scorpius shot Rose a dirty look but smiled at Sarah. "What are the colours"

"Blue and pink" Sarah replied.

Scorpius thought for a moment. "Blue" he decided. "It goes with your eyes."

Rose, whose hand was still on her forehead, raised her eyebrow at him.

"Ok then!" Sarah smiled. "Thanks you guys!" and with that she skipped off.

Rose called after her, "Sarah aren't you gonna have lunch... never mind" she gave up. She began helping herself to the food on the table. Scorpius followed her lead.

Scorpius chuckled.

She glanced at him then mimicked his voice, "It matches your eyes?' she asked.

He smacked her shoulder. "I had to say something right? Plus It's easy coming up with all this this comforting crap. I get loads of practice with Greg. Every day he asks me, Am I fat? For the ball should I wear red or white? Ask Leo, he gets it much worse."

Leo who had been eating in silence, looked up. "It's true" he said shaking his head.

Rose laughed, "You guys are so sweet and patient. I can't stand Sarah like this!" she groaned.

"By the way" she asked looking around, suddenly realising something, "Where is Greg anyway?"

Leo rolled his eyes. "Probably still checking himself out in the mirror."

Scorpius laughed and gave Leo a high five.

Rose shook her head. "They're all mad. The ball is still a whole week away..."

Scorpius smiled, "Love is blind right?"

Rose shrugged, "Yea I guess so."

Leo glanced at her, "You going with anyone then Rose?"

Rose choked on her food and began to laugh, "Nah, the ball's not for me. You?" she asked them.

Leo shook his head but Scorpius smiled.

Rose furrowed her brows.

"What? You have a date and your'e not telling me?" she playfully punched him. If Scorpius was going with someone, she would kill to know.

He smiled cheekily at her, "Jealous are we?"

Rose snorted but smiled back, "Just curious. I'd like to see who you think is good enough to go with you..."

He cleared his throat, "I don't have a date. I just thought I'd gatecrash the party. You guys are free to join me." he said, raising his fork to salute them.

Rose laughed, "Yea maybe I will. It would certainly liven things up!"

Leo nodded silently.

Sighing, Rose glanced down at her plate. As they were talking she had finished most of her food. Now scrapping up the last few morsels, she shoved them down her throat. Chewing quickly and washing it down with water, Rose got up from the table. Both the boys looked up in surprise.

"I wanna get some work done before class." she explained.

Scorpius nodded, "K Guess we'll see you in class."

"Ok" Rose turned left. Just then she caught sight of the Griffindor table and smiling she made her way over to the large group of red heads sitting together.

"Hey guys" she smiled at her family.

Her brother perked up as he saw her.

"Rosie!" he smiled.

"Hey Rose!" her family smiled up at her. By now, nobody even cared that she was in Slytherin any more, except, maybe Molly but Rose had never liked her much anyway... There was no tension at all between anyone and Rose thought it was great that now she could just saunter over to the Griffindor table to see them.

She ruffled her brother's hair.

She smiled at Madeline who was also at the table, next to James.

"Hey Rose. That last match you played against us, great work! That was some fierce beating I saw. The whole team was great! It's too bad, really that you guys didn't win. You guys should have..." she smiled at her, encouragingly. Rose nodded, recalling the event. A month ago, Slytherin had played Ravenclaw as part of the Quidditch cup tournament. Even though Slytherin had scored the majority of the goals, Madeline had caught the snitch and Ravenclaw had won by a small margin of 10 points. It had been a tough game but despite the defeat, Rose had still enjoyed playing against such talented players.

Rose blushed, "Thanks. Nah I guess, we'll just get em' next time. I mean your team was really good too. It was anyone's game really. Plus you were fantastic when you caught the snitch! That final minute when you jumped over our seeker..." she enthused.

"Of course she was." Rose watched in surprised pleasure as James smiled at Madeline and gave her a peck on the cheek. Madeline chuckled. Rose realised they were holding hands.

She looked at Albus who was now standing beside her.

"Are they a couple now then?" she asked him.

Albus nodded. "About time too. James has been crazy about her for ages."

Rose frowned, "But does he really care about her?" James had a reputation to be a bit of ladies man. But suddenly watching the two of them in front of her, Rose saw it was a rhetorical question. James was whispering something in Madeline's ear and she was laughing. In his eyes, was pure love.

Albus squeezed Rose's shoulder. "Going to the ball with anyone?" he asked her.

Rose shook her head, "No, Nobody's asked me. So I think I'll just skip it."

"Hmm" Albus mumbled.

Rose looked at him. "You?" she asked.

He laughed, "No way Rosie. I'm keeping myself single!"

She rolled her eyes, "Of course, I should have known..."

Albus glanced at her with a twinkle in his eye. "How about we go... together?"

Rose looked at him for a second and then grinned. Going to a ball with Albus. Now that would be fun! Albus was a terrible dancer, evidence from their Christmas party last year but he was great fun at celebrations and always had a ready joke up his sleeve. Rose knew, that if she went with him, she would never be bored. It would also give them the time to catch up. Two birds with one stone, she recalled the muggle expression.

"Yea... why not!" she replied eagerly.

He nodded, "Great! Oh and just cos you're going with me, don't think you can come looking all scruffy. I have to show you off." he added slyly.

She smiled, "Done." she wouldn't mind dressing up, now that she was going with someone she actually liked, "And make sure you dress up too. You're not the only one who wants to show off!"

Albus wrapped his arm around her shoulder, "This is gonna be great..."

Rose nodded eagerly, "Yea definitely."

Just then James seemed to notice that Rose was still standing there. Turning away from Madeline he smiled at her, encouragingly.

"So Rose" he had a sly look on his face. "I've heard about this Ball... Who's the lucky guy?"

Albus and Rose exchanged looks.

"Al actually" she chuckled.

James eyes widened.

"Wait, you guys are going, together!" he seemed shocked. His cries of exclamation reached the ears of their other family members and they glanced round in curiosity.

"Is it true then Rose?" Roxanne asked, her face blank with surprise.

Hugo was staring, open-mouthed at his sister, "Eew! You can't go to a ball with Al! It's so wrong...' he protested.

Madeline laughed, "They're just going as friends Hugo" she shook her head at the misunderstanding.

Rose nodded and wrapped her arm around Albus. "We decided just because we don't have dates, that doesn't mean we shouldn't have any fun. So we're gonna gatecrash together!"

James was smiling at her. "That's sounds like a good plan."

Rose nodded, "We thought so."

"Plus" Albus added, "We're gonna show all the fourth years that we're the two hottest cousins around and maybe we'll actually get to land real dates." he chuckled.

Rose snorted a little at this, "Yea that's not on my itinerary but Albus your free to scout."

Everyone laughed at this.

Lily rolled her eyes at her brother's comment, "Well I hope you guys have fun anyway."

Rose turned gratefully to her cousin and gripped Albus tighter, "We will."

"Don't worry guys." Madeline encouraged. "I'm sure you guys are gonna turn more than a few heads."

Rose nodded, "Of course! We're a winning team."

She threw Albus a high five. As she raised her hand though, she noticed the time on her watch.

"Oh darn! Class, I gotta get going!" she told her family.

They nodded in understanding.

Albus caught her hand as she was leaving.

"We'll work the details for next week ok?" he asked her.

Rose nodded, smiling. "Sure. I'll meet up with you tomorrow or something."

"See you guys!" she called to the others.

"Bye" they smiled after her.

"Bye Rose!" Madeline added but suddenly a thought seemed to strike her mind and she called after her. "Hey Rose, I have a fantastic idea!"

Rose turned to face her again.

"What do you think of this? You, me, Hogsmeade this weekend? I wanna go and get you a dress for that ball! You'll need all the help you can get... I'm sure Lily will want to come too?" Madeline turned to Lily.

She nodded eagerly, "Yea Rose we HAVE to take you. Your fashion sense is so bad!" she teased.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Ok, sure I think it could be fun..."

Madeline's face lit up. "Of course it'll be fun. You'll be hanging around with us for Merlin's sake!

Albus crossed his arms pretending to be jealous. "No fair! Nobody's taking me shopping!" he pouted.

Lily choked, "Cos you're a lost cause Al. I mean your sense of colour coordination is all wrong! So, even if you look ridiculous, Madeline and I are gonna make sure that Rose will be beautiful enough to represent the both of you!"

Rose laughed. "Gee I'm honoured"

Lily added, "Hey you better get going Rose, for class. We don't want to hold you up.."

Rose suddenly remembered class and waving one last time and hurried off.

Still hearing her family's laughter echoing in the background, she smiled. Suddenly everything seemed to be working out. Her whole opinion on this ball had changed in a matter of minutes. Now she was as excited as everyone else. She would be going to the ball, with a great friend, she was going to hang out in Hogsmeade this weekend and knowing Madeline and Lily, she was going to get a fabulous dress! Perfect. She had to write home and tell her parents about this! Her father, she knew, would be pleased to know she wasn't going to the ball with some boy but with her cousin instead. Good old Dad, she thought. Rose was so preoccupied in her thoughts, that as she was walking down the corridor, she didn't see Leo approach her.

"Hi Rose"

Rose looked up startled.

"Leo! Hi. Aren't we supposed to be getting to class?"

Leo looked at her for a moment, not answering, his feet shuffling uncomfortably.

"You ok?" she asked him concerned, thoughts regarding the ball, vanishing from her mind.

Leo paused and took a deep breath.

"Leo..."

"Come to the ball with me?"

Rose blinked several times at the boy in front of her. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. This seemed too good to be true.

"Wwhat?"

"Rose, will you come to the fourth year's ball with me?" he asked again.

Rose's heart swelled at the thought that Leo Zabini was asking her to the ball. He was, one of the most eligible Slytherin boys and the fact the he was asking her, should have been seen by Rose as a compliment. Now that she thought about it, Leo was pretty cute... But a second later, her heart fell. She couldn't go with him. She had promised Al minutes ago! Plus she really was looking forward to going with her cousin. She couldn't just cancel on him. Aaah! This ruined everything! Glancing at Leo's pleading eyes and eager expression, Rose felt a pang of guilt.

"I.. can't Leo. I promised my cousin just now that I'd go with him."

Her heart ached as she saw Leo's hopeful face fall.

"Oh..."

"I'm so sorry. You should have asked me sooner..." she trailed off.

Suddenly Leo looked up again but this time his eyes were cold and angry. His fists were clenched.

"You don't have to make up stories Rose" he sneered.

Rose was taken aback.

"What are you talking about?"

"I know you don't wanna go with me. Don't lie, saying you're going with your cousin. Who does that anyway? That's pathetic." he sneered.

Rose felt like she had been slapped across the face.

She folded her hands on her hips. "Leo I am going with Albus. Go ask him AND maybe if you had plucked up the courage to ask me a little earlier, you could have had me as your date." she hissed scathingly.

Leo hissed at her back, the soft kind expression he had been wearing on his face earlier, completely gone, "I don't think so Weasley! Who would want to go with you anyway?"

With that, he spun on his heel and stalked away.

Rose watched him go, tears brimming in her eyes. What had she done?


	21. The Ball

Watching Sarah, in her ocean blue dress and matching accessories, twirl in front of the mirror, Rose smiled. It was the night of the fourth year's ball and they were getting ready in their dorms. They weren't the only ones of course. Mel and the twins were there as well but there seemed to be a silent peace pact between the five girls tonight. Each one of them knew this was a special evening and nobody wanted to mess it up. So, for now, there was peace. It was about time too. Ever since the incident of the train, Rose had been dealing with Hell on Earth every time she tried to get some pranks ranged from green hair in the morning, to being surrounded by a moat of honey around her bed, resulting in some very sticky feet. Mel had kept away from magical pranks so far, much to Rose's relief. Rose had often marveled at herself, wondering how she had survived so long with Mel as her roommate. She admired herself, even. Now glancing at Mel who was powdering her nose, she shook her head. They used to be friends... How had their relationship deteriorated to such a level? And what was the point of it all? It was all so childish. Jerked out of her daydreaming as she caught Sarah staring at her, Rose blinked and smiled at her best friend who had her hands on her hips.

"Rose..."

"What?"

"Aren't you going to get ready?" Sarah smirked, pointing at her watch.

Rose glanced down at her jeans and t-shirt. Her hair was done, the usually untamed auburn locks now in little ringlets, hanging softly down, bunching together a little around her neck. So was her makeup, Sarah had seen to that. But looking around, she realised she was the only one not in her dress. Darn. She had been so busy day-dreaming and watching other people get ready, that she had forgotten to put on her own outfit! Well at lest she wasn't completely unready. Her makeup looked pretty good, she thought as she examined herself and the golden flecks in her hair, she felt, was a nice touch. Since Madeline and Lily, the chief beauty experts, weren't in Slytherin and couldn't help her, they had given Sarah specific instructions on how to do Rose's makeup, supposedly to bring out her eyes or whatever. Sarah had listened intently to their words and she had even taken down notes! Notes, on how to do her makeup! As far as Rose could tell, Sarah had been paying attention. She had never worn this much blush or lipstick in her life, ever. Suddenly it occurred to her that she actually looked, feminine. She never imagined that she would think this but looking at herself now, she actually realised that she liked looking like a girl... a real girl with makeup and perfume and a fancy dress.

Tearing her eyes away from her reflection, she smiled at Sarah, "Haven't you heard, jeans is the new formal."

Sarah rolled her eyes in amusement.

Rose heard Mel snort in the background, "I wouldn't be surprised if Weasley was really wearing that tonight. She's got no taste to wear something actually classy..."

Sarah caught Rose's eye and mouthed, "Ignore her!"

Hissing through her teeth in frustration, Rose got up from the bed. Grabbing her dress which was still in it's brand new packaging, she stalked to the washroom.

Stroking the beautifully wrapped and sealed box in her hands, Rose recalled her trip to Hogsmeade with Madeline and Lily. They had met bright and early on Saturday morning. They had eaten their breakfast quickly, before setting off. Roaming the streets, the girls had dragged her from one store to another, making her try on dress after dress. The next store they took her to, just seemed more extravagant than the last one.

She remembered asking Lily, "How am I gonna pay for this? I'm on a budget!"

Lily had laughed at her, "Silly Rose, Maddie and I are gonna pay for it!"

Rose's eyes had widened, "No way! I'm not going to let you pay for all of this." By then, the girls had picked out various accessories and makeup options for her. The cost to Rose, had been unimaginable.

Madeline had snorted, "Why can't you accept the fact that we want to take the opportunity to make you beautiful for at least, one night! Take advantage of this... We're not asking you, you know!"

Rose hadn't been sure if that was a backhanded compliment but had decided to ignore it. So after much persuasion on the girls' part, Rose had let them pay for her though she had made them promise her that one day, they would let her return the favour. They had agreed, grudgingly. As for the dress... Rose caught her breath as she recalled how perfect she had felt in it. Like a princess. When they found the dress they had already been searching through the stores for hours. Eventually Rose had forced them to stop for lunch but they had barely rested when the girls had hauled Rose off again to continue looking.

Since their last break, Rose had liked some of them but none had really clicked with her. She hadn't felt that spark. The girls had insisted that they continue on their quest. It was like the never ending, treasure hunt. Finally they had entered a little boutique store right next to the Hogs Head. As soon as her eyes landed on that dress, Rose had known, that was the one. She hadn't been alone. The girls had fallen in love with it as well. There had been no debate amongst them. That dress had been destined for her! Carefully unwrapping the pink box of the silver box, Rose lifted the lid and breathed deeply as she stared at the soft material, carefully folded within. Perfection.

Sarah had been adding the last minute touches to her makeup when Rose returned. Mel and the twins had been getting ready to leave. They were all wearing identical emerald green dresses, although Mel's had slightly more beads and decorations on it. Sarah glanced at the twins, who were trailing after Mel a little pathetically. In the last few years, the twins had lost all sense of their own individuality. Their lives now revolved around Mel and her every whim and fancy. People didn't see them as Anne and Claire anymore. They saw them as Mel's personal handmaidens. Sarah jerked out of her thoughts as she heard someone clear their throat behind her. Spinning around, her eyes widened as she took in the sight before her.

"Oh Rose... you're beautiful." she murmured.

Rose spun in front of the mirror, giggling a bit like a little girl. "You really think so?"

Sarah nodded, "Absolutely."

Rose turned to her, "Well I couldn't have done it without you. You helped with all the makeup and the hair... I couldn't have done that!"

Sarah smiled. "I'm glad you appreciate my skills."

Just then they heard a faint cough. Looking round they saw Mel and the twins standing by the dorm entrance and gawking at Rose. Mel, especially was staring at her. She didn't seem jealous or angry. Just thoughtful. Her eyes softened for a moment.

"You don't look half bad... Rose" she muttered.

Rose blinked, surprised at her politeness. "Er... thanks Mel. You guys look great too." she nodded to the twins, who smiled slightly to thank her.

Mel nodded and her eyes hardened again. The moment was gone. Spinning on her heel, she left the room, the twins following her. As they were leaving though, Anne paused at the door.

"You really do look gorgeous Rose." she smiled at her.

Before Rose could reply, she swiftly hurried out of the room and closed the door behind her. Sarah stared at Rose for a moment as the room filled with silence.

"That was... weird" Rose voiced.

Sarah chuckled, "Yea go figure. I tell you, Mel was jealous!"

But Rose wasn't listening anymore. She was glancing at her reflection again. Wow...

Sarah glanced at the clock, "Ready to go?"

Rose shook her head. "You go first. Scorpius promised he'd walk me down."

Sarah nodded, "Well I guess I'll see you?"

Rose nodded, "Yea, have a good time with Greg!"

Sarah chuckled, "I will."

Grabbing her things, Sarah hurried out of their dorm.

Rose bit her lip. Suddenly there were butterflies in her stomach. But she couldn't stay here just gawking at herself forever! No, she was going to go downstairs and she was going to enjoy herself. Putting on the finishing touches to her outfit, Rose sighed. Showtime.

Scorpius was sitting in the common room, impatiently. Rose had promised she wouldn't be late. The two of them had made a deal, that even though Rose had Albus as a date, Scorpius could walk her to the Great Hall. This was because Rose didn't want to go on her own. Personally, Scorpius didn't mind. He would be the first guy to see what she looked like. But at the rate she was going, they were going to be late! Sarah had hurried down the stairs a good 5 minutes ago and had told him clearly, Rose was coming down. Aaah! He put his head in his hands. Why did girls have to take so long to get ready?

No sooner had the thought crossed his mind when he heard a soft voice call him.

"Scorpius?"

Scorpius lifted his head from his hands and looked up towards the stairs leading to the girls' dorms. The sight in front of him, took his breath away.

Rose was slowly descending from the stairs and was smiling at him. Standing up, Scorpius watched her in awe. Her usually bushy hair was now beautifully curled into hundreds of little ringlets that fell about her face softly. They bounced as she slowly descended the steps. Her chocolate brown eyes were sparkling and she was wearing silver and gold eye makeup. She wore blush on her cheeks and on her lips, she had on a light pink tone of lipstick. But it was her dress that caught his attention. It was a beautiful strapless white gown, that clung slightly to her hips and fanned out below, revealing her feminine figure. On the top half of the dress were delicate and intricate little floral designs in golden thread. He could tell the dress was enchanted because the designs shimmered slightly as she came towards him. The most gorgeous part of all though, had to be the bottom half of the dress. Starting from the waist band, one could see, enchanted golden flecks cascading down the skirts of the dress, like water. One could still see the delicate white lace underneath the flecks and it looked like a golden stream flowing downwards. As the flecks reached the ground, they made the floor shimmer for a moment, before vanishing. Looking at her again, Scorpius saw gold glitter on Rose's collarbone and arms. There were also tiny flecks in her auburn hair. It gave the illusion that this river of gold was flowing all the way from the top of Rose's head, to the ground. She was also wearing a stunning necklace with sparkling white diamonds that complimented the gown nicely. Rose, Scorpius thought, looked like a cross between a Grecian Goddess and storybook Princess.

As she reached him, Scorpius saw that as she walked, she left a slight shimmer on the ground behind her which hovered for awhile, before disappearing. Stretching out his hand, Scorpius breathed deeply as he inhaled her perfume. Rose, shyly took his hand and smiled.

"What do you think?" she asked him, looking down at herself. "Too much?"

Scorpius looked at her and then down at himself. He was wearing simple, smart dress robes, black and white. Compared to her, a shining work of art, he looked like a peasant.

"No, you're perfect." he replied.

Rose sighed in relief. "Good. Thanks by the way for waiting for me. I know I'm pretty late."

Scorpius shook his head. Who cared about the time? "Nah it's ok."

"I'm still mad that you decided to take Al as your date instead of gatecrashing with me though. I thought we agreed it would be fun... " he teased.

Rose chuckled. "Come on Scorp, I know you have a date, you just won't tell me."

Scorpius stayed silent. Yes he did have a date. But looking at Rose now, he wished with all his heart that he didn't.

Leading her, the two of them departed the Slytherin common room and made their way up the stairs from the dungeons to the Great Hall. On their way the passed several first and second years who stared at Rose with awe and surprise. After awhile Scorpius noticed, that they were following them, just to keep Rose in their sights. While he found this rather amusing, Rose, seemed oblivious, obviously thinking about something and she shook her head gently. Some of the golden flecks in her hair, fell away from her, creating a golden glow around them. It couldn't get much better than this, Scorpius imagined. Even some of the older years, the sixth and seventh years, watched in stunned silence as Rose and Scorpius passed them. The beauty of this redhead, seemed to marvel them all.

Finally the pair reached the Great Hall. Rose spotted her cousin and waved him over. As Scorpius saw him approach them, there was pleasant surprise but also affection in his eyes. He turned to Scorpius.

"Thanks for bringing her down for me."

Scorpius nodded and smiled at Rose, "My pleasure."

Rose smiled back and Scorpius reluctantly let go of her hand.

"I gotta find my own date." he told her.

She winked at him as if to say, "I knew it!"

Rose watched Scorpius turn to search for his date. She was curious to see who he had brought. She watched closely as he walked past a long stream of girls and stopped in front of an attractive brown haired girl in a striking red dress. Rose looked at her face. She knew her. She was a fourth year, Hufflepuff. Her name was Meredith and they had once shared a desk in History of Magic. Rose tried to recall what she had been like. Shy. That had been the most prominent trait displayed. But she had been nice, considerate and had gotten their pair project work done with Rose, effectively. Rose saw Scorpius turn towards her with Meredith on his arm. Meredith saw her and waved, excitedly. Scorpius was just gazing at her as if, asking for her approval? Rose hesitated but nodded and smiled to acknowledge and accept. Scorpius grinned at her and then muttering something to Meredith who giggled, they entered the Hall. Rose watched them go. Meredith, she felt would be a dull companion for the evening but she wouldn't be an annoying one either. She gritted her teeth but she didn't know why. Was she jealous? No way! This was only Scorpius she was thinking about for Merlin's sake! He was just her friend...

Albus, who had been chatting to some of his friends, tapped her on the shoulder.

"Ready?" he asked her.

Rose smiled and took his arm. "Yea"

"You look lovely Rose." he beamed proudly.

Rose grinned, "You don't look so bad yourself. I'd say your fashion sense isn't as bad as Lily makes it out to be." Rose glanced at her cousin. Albus had gone for neutral dress robes, black and white like Scorpius. It was probably the best. Looking around at some of the other fourth year boys, Rose shuddered. She thanked Merlin that Albus had not had the ill sense to wear anything blue, red, green or bright yellow.

Catching her gaze Albus nodded, "Of course. I dress only to compliment my partner." he gripped her tightly.

Together they entered the Hall. Rose looked around in awe. It had been completely transformed. The house tables had been put away and in their place were round tables that fit up to 10 people. They were littered all about the Hall. The theme for the ball was obviously blue and white. The white tables were adorned with lovely blue flowers and the comfortable looking chairs had blue bows tied on to them. Looking up, Rose could still see the enchantment of the night sky but hanging along the wooden beams of the hall, she could see white and blue streamers and ribbons, lining the archways. Giant blue and white stars, were hanging delicately from the ceiling posts, swinging gently. In the middle of the Hall, there was a giant dance floor where some eager couples, were already swinging in time to the music.

"Wow" she breathed.

Albus seemed to be just as awed as she was.

"Yea..." he seemed to say.

Following Albus' lead, Rose walked across the Hall to where she saw several Griffindor fourth years standing. Probably Albus' friends. She was acutely aware that people were staring at her but she didn't care. She felt beautiful and that was important.

Reaching Albus' friends, they turned to look at her and she smiled.

"Everyone this is my cousin, Rose Weasley" Albus said. There was pride in his voice.

Rose nodded and smiled, "Hello everyone."

She glanced round. There were three boys, all about Albus' height and two girls, who were slightly shorter. The boys seemed to be gawking at her and the girls were smiling politely.

"Hi Rose" one of the girls stretched out her hand.

Rose shook it.

"I'm Ellen" she smiled.

"Nice to meet you."

"Al you never told me your cousin was hot!"

Rose raised an eyebrow at one of the boys. Ellen rolled her eyes and jabbed him in the side, much to his displeasure.

Albus cleared his throat, "Well it's not something you usually talk about Tom..."

Rose laughed diplomatically, "Besides, I don't always dress up this much. Hardly wear makeup at all. It's just for tonight..." she added.

"Yea well your'e gorgeous tonight." Albus smiled.

"So Rose, you're in Slytherin right?" Ellen asked.

Rose nodded comfortably. She had gotten over her sensitivity regarding her house.

Ellen nodded, "I've seen you play Quidditch. Thought you were really good."

"Rosie's the best!" Albus chuckled.

Rose blushed, "Thanks but it takes a team effort to play well."

Ellen nodded, "Yea of course but you fly well. That's what I meant."

One of the boys seemed to have gotten over Rose's physical appearance and spoke.

"I haven't seen you play. What position?"

"Beater"

"Wow... that's a tough one. Gotta be fit to be a beater."

"Yea tell me about it. That's why Albus has to stick to being a seeker." Rose smiled.

Everyone laughed.

The night seemed to be passing by fairly quickly. Rose was getting on well with Albus' friends who were warm and welcoming. Even the boys after awhile, seemed to thaw towards her, after they realised she was pretty sporty. They all cracked jokes just like Albus' which dispelled Rose's theories that Albus' joke material was all his own original ideas. She seemed to have made quite a kindred spirit out of Ellen and throughout dinner, the pair had been chatting on and on about Quidditch games. She had found out that Ellen, like Sarah, played Chaser.

"My friend Sarah would like you." Rose had told her.

After dinner, Rose and Albus had taken to the floor for a little while, doing a couple of fast numbers and some slow ones as well. They had managed pretty well, even though Albus had fumbled through the dance moves, song after song. Rose had to admit though, he had improved since last year... After awhile though, both of them had tired and they had gone to sit down. Rose much to her surprise, had been getting numerous invitations by boys to dance with them. So far, none of them had appealed to her, so she had politely declined.

Albus had chuckled at this saying, "Playing hard to get Rosie?"

Rose had snorted, "I should be. I already have a partner." she said smiling at her cousin.

Albus had turned out to be pretty good fun all evening. Rose felt like she was a kid again when she used to spend hours and days hanging around with her cousin, playing with him and confiding in him. Spending this much time with him now, she realised, that Albus would always be one of the few people she could count on. They had now spent at least 4 hours downstairs. Rose was getting a bit tired. Albus though, was still on his toes, looking out for attractive girls, willing to dance. Typical, Rose had laughed to herself. Boys would be boys.

"How about that one Rosie?" he pointed to a sandy blonde.

Rose yawned slightly. "Al why don't you ask her to dance?"

Albus looked at her in concern. "I can't leave you!"

Rose rolled her eyes. "I'm not a kid. I'll be fine. You go ahead and enjoy yourself."

Albus hesitated but upon Rose's insistence, he got up and headed over to the blonde.

Rose chuckled to herself and studied, the scene in front of her. Couples were dancing to the music happily. It was lovely. Rose delicately fingered her dress skirt, admiring the golden flecks, still flowing down the sides. She hadn't seen Leo all evening so he hadn't spoiled her mood. Ever since she had declined his invitation to the ball, Leo had been perfectly awful to her, even refusing to sit a mere three seats away from her. Nobody knew what was wrong with him, except Rose of course. Even Scorpius had been pestering her about why Leo was being so horrible. Rose waved off her thoughts about Leo. She didn't need him to mess up the night for her. She had been enjoying herself too much. Suddenly she saw out of the corner of her eye, someone was approaching her. Looking up, she smiled as she saw Scorpius reach out his hand.

"How about a dance Rose?" he asked her.

Without hesitation, Rose got up from her chair and took his hand. She couldn't decline Scorpius a dance.

Taking his lead, Rose followed him onto the dance floor. Scorpius pulled her a little closer and she rested her head on his shoulder, sighing. He took her waist and they began to dance. Rose realised almost immediately that he was a much better dancer than Albus. His soft and smooth movements, made her relax in his arms.

"Enjoying yourself so far?" he asked her.

"Very much" she replied, closing her eyes.

She didn't mind if they did this all evening. Just being here, next to Scorpius and swaying to the music, Rose felt the moment was perfect. But it was shattered all too soon as she heard a familiar voice call her name. Opening her eyes and looking up, she saw Leo crossing over towards them. Scorpius looked confused and he stopped dancing but he kept Rose close to him. Leo was storming towards them now, a look of fury in his eyes. Rose stood there motionless. Had he gone mad? As he reached them, Rose could picture the steam coming out from his nose.

"Rose" he spat.

Scorpius stepped forward but Rose stopped him.

"Leo?" she asked.

"So is this it? Is this why you turned me down?"

Rose was confused.

"You can come to the ball with Scorpius Malfoy but you can't come with me?" he asked.

Scorpius let out an "Ohh" as if he finally understood.

Rose's eyes widened and she took a step away from Scorpius. "Leo I'm just having a dance with him. I came with Albus."

"Yea right" she heard him sneer.

Scorpius groaned, "Come on man. She's telling the truth."

Leo turned to face Scorpius, "You! You knew I liked her and you still took her to the ball."

Now Rose was in complete shock. People who had been dancing around them had stopped and were watching the dramatic scene unfold.

"You knew that Leo liked me?" she asked Scorpius.

He nodded with a weary look on his face.

She groaned in exasperation.

"Come on man, I didn't bring her to the ball. Go ask Albus, he'll tell you" Scorpius implored Leo.

He shook his head violently, his eyes on fire. "You guys think you've got this whole thing worked out. But don't doubt my intelligence. I know a lie when I see one!" he shouted.

By now the whole hall had turned to witness the imminent fight. Rose saw Albus, who was now standing next to the sandy blonde, watching in shock and she raised her arms helplessly. She saw Mel in the corner, speechless. But Rose couldn't care less about what she thought.

"Let's all just calm down..." Scorpius began.

Leo glared at Rose and then at Scorpius. "I don't think so! You pissed me off one too many times!" he shouted and lunged at Scorpius. There were screams and gasps as both the boys were on the ground, fighting. Leo was trying to throw blows left and right while Scorpius was desperately trying to deflect the punches. Rose gasped, unsure of what to do. Why did the fights always have to happen around her? she thought. Some of the boys were hooting and cheering, the girls covering their eyes. Suddenly a third figure was running towards the boys and he jumped on top of Leo, trying to pull him off Scorpius.

"Albus!" Rose cried as Leo swung round and punched Albus in the face.

Rose hurried up to Albus to help him up but he shook her off and launched himself back into the fight. People were cheering and shouting, "Fight Fight!" Rose tried to yank Leo off her cousin but Leo accidentally elbowed her, sending her flying.

Rose landed on her bum with a crash. "Stop it!" she wailed.

But nobody was paying attention to her anymore. It wasn't a fight about her now. It was a fight between Leo and Scorpius, a channel to release any unspoken emotions that had been bottled up for four years. By now, Scorpius was definitely not just deflecting. He was throwing some pretty mean punched of his own. The sound of flesh crashing against flesh made Rose cringe. And Albus... Rose didn't know why he was there. Maybe just to support Scorpius or something. She saw him swing his fist, trying to punch Leo. But Leo at the last minute ducked and he hit Scorpius instead.

"Hey, we're on the same team!" Scorpius shouted.

"Sorry mate, old feelings die hard?" Albus suggested.

The crowd though, seemed to love this extra piece of drama and roared. Now even the girls had gotten over the initial violence and were joining in. Some people had the audacity to be watching the fight as if it were some kind of wrestling match. They were sipping drinks and munching on snacks. Rose felt sick.

Suddenly, Sarah was running up to Rose, a look of panic on her face. Rose turned to her, looking like she was about to experience a nervous breakdown. By now the entire dance floor was a mess. Rubbish was everywhere. The boys were throwing chairs at one another, grabbing pieces of wood from the tables and using them as shields against one another. What would the Headmistress say?

"What do we do?" Sarah whispered.

"Get a Professor." Rose called.

Without another word, Sarah hurried over to Greg, grabbed his hand and dashed out of the Hall with him, in search of some authoritative figure.

In the meantime, Rose turned back to the boys, I can't stop them... she thought. Just then Scorpius and Albus had over powered Leo and flung him across the dance floor. Rose quickly stepped out of the way as she landed beside her with a crash. Scorpius and Albus were panting, their faces covered in bruises but both wore smug expressions on their faces. Leo, still on the ground seemed a little less ok and his cheek and lip was cut, blood was dripping on the floor. Suddenly catching sight of Rose, Leo seemed to be re-fueled and he got up, ready to face his opponents again. Albus and Scorpius leaned forward, ready to charge towards him. Suddenly Rose got a brilliant idea. It was perfect. Just then the boys began to charge towards each other. Rose took a breath. It was now or never.

Taking the plunge, Rose ran forwards and stood between the boys. "STOP!" she shouted. Her voice echoed throughout the Hall. The crowd suddenly stopped cheering. People stopped eating and drinking. They all held their breath as the three boys came to a sudden stop. Rose had been right. None of them were willing to put her in harms' way. They were all staring at her in shock, as if they weren't sure how to respond. They were all panting, heavily and Rose breathed a sigh of relief. Her arms were still outstretched, on either side, keeping the boys a safe distance from one another.

Just then the doors of the Great Hall burst open. Rose smiled, hoping it was Sarah with a professor. But instead everyone looked up to see James and Hugo standing in front of them with lit fireworks from the Weasley Joke shop. Rose sighed. They had obviously come to gatecrash. The crowd, watched the boys in confused silence. Staring at the scene before them, the boys looked in partial horror at the wrecked dance floor, at Rose, at the bruised boys and then back at Rose again. James grabbed the fireworks from Hugo and quickly extinguished the lit flames by stamping on them with his foot, preventing them from going off. Hugo glanced at his sister, the centre of all the drama, bewildered.

"I guess this is a bad time?"


	22. Rose for Teacher

Chatting happily with Albus and Scorpius, Rose made her way to the library. She had been in a significantly better mood all week. This was because the whole drama regarding the Ball had finally blown over. It was about time too. There had been a fairly long period of time where people would not stop asking her about what had happened, mostly because they had not been present during the event. After awhile Rose had found their nosy eyes and ears a little too much to bear. Frankly, it was embarrassing for Rose to relate the events that night to random people who approached her. To tell people that the fiasco had taken place mostly because of her? It painted her out to be simply horrible person. Then again, maybe that was what Leo had wanted... for Rose to be made out as the bad guy? Recalling what had happened after she had stepped in between the boys, literally, Rose shuddered. Everything from there, had happened much too quickly. Not long after James and Hugo had arrived, Sarah and Greg had returned with Professor Longbottom who had swiftly taken the boys to the hospital wing. Rose had been made to explain the evening's events to their headmistress whilst the rest of the fourth years were made to tidy the Great Hall, punishment for not attempting to intervene during the fight. According to Sarah who filled Rose in on the details of their little cleaning session, the boys had done a pretty good job of destroying about 20 over chairs, 2 solid wooden tables and of course, the dance floor. Rose had related this news to Scorpius and Albus who, instead of being shocked or disgusted, both had taken pride in their obvious display of strength. This reaction, Rose found, incredibly frustrating. There seemed to be no repentance from the boys for what they had done. It was almost as if, they did not regret their actions.

The rest of the fourth years, on the other hand, definitely regretted theirs'. None of the students had taken too kindly to spending the evening cleaning up the boys' mess. Scorpius, Leo and Albus had received their fair bit of hard stares and glares since the event. The boys had taken this in their stride, well at least Albus and Scorpius had. Rose had no idea how Leo was coping with the entire situation. Ever since the Ball he had been ignoring, not only her, but the rest of the group as well. This included Sarah and Greg. In the first few days, Rose had been almost, relieved at this. It wasn't as if she hadn't wanted to patch things up with Leo, but Rose had been terribly afraid that any kind of interaction with him soon after the Ball would have led to another one of his emotional outbursts. That had been something she could have done without. So at the time, Rose hadn't been too bothered by his behaviour. In fact, she had behaved exactly the same way.

But now that things had died down, Rose suddenly felt eager to speak with him again. Desperate, almost. She missed Leo. She missed his jokes, his calming presence, his voice of reason. Without him, there was a significant blank amongst their group, an irreplaceable hole. Rose would watch almost guiltily as Leo would sit by himself at the Slytherin table, would walk to class on his own and as he would sit by himself at the back of the classroom. Occasionally people like Anne of Claire took pity and would sit with him but on the whole, Leo had evolved into a loner. It was painful for Rose to watch her friend from afar. She would find herself staring at him for long periods of time, wondering if they would ever regain what they had had. He had hurt her in so many ways but then, she had had hurt him too. Rose had, on numerous occasions, suggested to the rest that they, as his friends, should attempt to make the first move at reconciliation. But Scorpius had pointedly stopped her.

"He'll come around when he's ready." he had told her.

Rose had wanted to protest but deep down she knew that Scorpius had been right. Leo didn't hate them, he did want to speak with them again. She knew this because she had often caught him, throwing glimpses towards them. Not looks of anger and it pained her to see him behaving the way he was, his eyes full of longing. But every time he caught Rose watching him, he would pointedly look away, immersing himself once more in his work or his meal. It was obvious that he was emotionally unprepared to face them, especially Rose and Scorpius. Time heals all wounds, Rose had thought to herself. Perhaps even wounds of a broken heart.

And of course, Rose remembered, there was Scorpius. Dear Scorpius. Since the Ball, they had spent less time together mostly because Scorpius had detention along with Albus and Leo every day for the rest of the term. The boys were also being made to pay, in installments, for the damage they had caused to school property. But they still sat together in class and did their homework together. They also made it a point to meet up in the common room at least once a week, just to chat. At first, Rose had been afraid that her relationship with Scorpius would eventually disintegrate after the Ball. After all, Scorpius had been the recipient of the first punch, courtesy of Leo. Rose had admitted to herself, later that night, that Scorpius had every reason to hate her. She was the cause of so much unnecessary trouble and pain. But much to her surprise and pleasure, Rose had found that her friendship with Scorpius was unchanged.

The event seemed to have only strengthened their bond. Scorpius eagerly supplied Rose with the support she craved for. It was almost as if helping Rose was his own kind of coping mechanism. Interestingly though, they never directly addressed the topic of the Ball face to face. Knowing Rose's mind was preoccupied with thoughts regarding it already, Scorpius was clever to stay clear of the subject. So instead he filled their chats with comments on Quidditch, class work and Hogsmeade trips. Rose of course, saw what he was trying to do but made no attempt to stop him. She was thankful that at least one person respected her desire to avoid the subject. Albus, as loving as he was, had the knack for bringing up awkward subjects at the wrong times. This frustrated Rose but Albus had proved to be just as great as Scorpius, support wise. Rose and Albus now had a customary ritual to meet up in Hogsmeade once a month for a butterbeer together.

Walking with the both of them now, Rose's thoughts drifted back to why they were actually heading to the Library. It had to do with potions. Scorpius' potions skills had definitely not improved since their first year at Hogwarts. There had been plenty more violent and destructive explosions since his first brew had turned him purple. As for Albus, he had nearly received detention for not knowing the ingredients for the polyjuice potion (a standard potion recipe). Somehow both of the boys had decided to band together to ask Rose to be their tutor, their motives unknown. At first she had refused. How was she supposed to teach the two worst students in Potions? It was impossible. But thinking it over, Rose had realised that tutoring them would take her mind off the recent drama. She had so much free time anyway. Her mother had written to her shortly after the Ball, no doubt hearing about the incident from Hugo, and had advised her to pick up a habit, hobby or activity to de-stress herself. Before being approached by Scorpius and Albus, she had stubbornly ignored her mother's advice and had been paying the price for that. The questions, had been getting to her. So after much thought, she had reconsidered. Rose, surprisingly found it a joy to teach her friends, the both of them were both so focused and they actually paid attention to her lessons. She began to suspect their good behaviour was related to two possibilities. Either they genuinely wanted to get better grades at potions or like her mother, they both wanted Rose to find a constructive outlet and a distraction for her to output energy. Eventually she had concluded that it was both. She had decided that she didn't mind though. Because it was working.

"Hey Rosie!" Albus snapped his fingers playfully.

Rose blinked. They had reached the Library.

"You in Wonderland?" he asked.

Rose smirked slightly. "Very funny. Just thinking."

Scorpius raised an eyebrow.

Rose rolled her eyes, "I'm fine. Can you guys get out your books." her playful tone changed instantly to a serious one as she walked over to one of the empty tables as the boys followed her. Rose took her lessons seriously. After all, even if Scorpius and Albus were just taking classes from her to distract her, they were still using her time, valuable time that she could spend elsewhere. And Rose, in a strange way, enjoyed role-playing a teacher. During her lessons, she felt almost like she was a little girl playing dress up.

"Yes Ma'am" Scorpius smiled slightly and hurried after her, book in hand.

Rose sat down and the boys sat opposite her.

"Page 52" she instructed.

Albus looked up in surprise.

"Slicing techniques?" he asked her.

Rose nodded."You'll be surprised how drastically a potion can be affected by the way you cut the ingredients. It often sets apart a good potion from a disaster." she glanced at Scorpius who looked at the ground sheepishly. The boys smiled. Nobody had really gotten over Scorpius' purple explosion from their first year. Memories...

"So," she continued, "Let's discuss this. Example, how would you cut Newt eyes?"

Scorpius answered, "Down the middle."

"Why?"

"Because that's how you did it in class..."

Rose sighed, amused and frustrated. They had gone through this before.

"Knowing the practical on how I do it, isn't enough. In order to learn, both of you must know the "Why" not just the "How" got it?"

Albus nodded, "I think I know why..."

"Ok, go ahead."

"Well cos when you slice the eye, you don't want to distort the iris right? The iris is what you need to bond the potion. When you slice down the middle, it's a clean cut and the damage is minimal. Cut it by the side and the iris will disintegrate." he suggested.

Rose smiled. Scorpius pretended to grumble and Albus slapped him on the back.

"It's alright Scorp." he pretended to sympathise.

Scorpius shoved him playfully and Rose instantly cleared her throat, effectively restoring order.

"Good job Albus. And this goes for all kinds of eyes except?

Scorpius opened his mouth to answer but Albus said it first.

"Toads"

Scorpius frowned in displeasure.

Rose ignored this. "Yea. Why Scorpius?"

Scorpius was ready this time.

"Because we don't like using the Toads' iris in potions. It provides a violent reaction."

Rose leaned back in her chair.

"Good. I can tell you've taken the time to go through lesson reading material. Some good progress guys. Now if you can understand the reasons for the rest of the ingredients, potions will be a breeze."

"You really think we're improving?" Scorpius asked.

Rose gazed at him and saw he was being genuine.

"I do. But we're not out of the woods yet. There are some people that go on to master the theory but then forget the practical. Right now you guys suck at both. But once you train up the theory, we gotta start effectively applying that to practical. It's not just a written examination"

The boys nodded in understanding.

Rose chuckled, "And I'm hoping to see that effective application to the upcoming practical next week. No more explosions you guys!"

Albus laughed and pretended to salute her.

"We won't let you down Ma'am!" he called.

This earned him a dirty look from the Librarian.

"Sorry..." he whispered.

Rose laughed and shook her head.

"Ok let's continue. There's a more advanced way of cutting I wanted to teach you guys. It's quicker and neater. I think it might come in handy for next week. But it's not in the potions textbook."

Rose glanced around and then suddenly turned to Scorpius, "Can you get me a book on the potions shelf? It's called, "The Art in the cut" by Horace Slughorn" she asked.

Scorpius nodded and immediately got up in search of the book.

Rose turned to face Albus again and smiled. He wasn't looking at her. Instead, he was reading, actually reading about slicing techniques. It was amazing to watch him study. Mostly because it was such a rare sight. Rose felt privileged to witness such an event. Noticing her gaze on him, he looked up and met her smile.

"What?"

"I've just been thinking."

"Yea, what's on your mind?"

"You really take these classes seriously. Both of you."

"Isn't that what we're supposed to do?"

Rose shook her head. "Yea but I didn't expect either of you to. I mean you guys fool around all the time."

Albus smirked. "Well I guess you really can't tell a book by it's cover." He turned to his book once more.

But Rose refused to be deterred. She leaned forward and narrowed her eyes. "You and Scorpius, do you guys really wanna ace potions?"

Albus smiled. "Yea, I have to. You gotta get an outstanding grade for NEWTS in potions to become an Auror."

Rose raised her eyebrow. "You wanna become an Auror?"

"Yea"

"Oh"

"What?"

"I just didn't know. That's all."

Albus stared at her. Rose averted his gaze.

"Ok I give up"

Rose smiled to herself. She had won the mental battle.

"No idea what you're talking about."

"Don't play coy Rosie. Ok, you're right."

"About what?"

"Why we wanted you to tutor us."

"You just told me why."

"Well because of that and also... we just wanted you to take your mind off things."

Rose bit her lip.

"Yea well thanks. It's working." She meant it.

Albus took her hand, misreading her reaction. "Don't be mad Rosie. We just wanted to help. Watching you everyday, suffering with all those people around you and knowing it was partially our fault, it was horrible. Plus," he smiled, "You're a really good teacher. Both of us are feeling pretty confident about next week. We get to kill two stones with a bird."

She laughed at this.

"The muggle expression is "Kill two birds with one stone" silly! Yea well don't get too confident for next week. Your results won't change overnight. It'll progress over time. I'm not a miracle worker! Don't feel bad about anything. I think it's doing some good for me. I always kind of guessed that you had two reasons for having me teach you. Knowing you guys, you hardly do things to help yourselves! I don't mind really, Al. I actually enjoy playing teacher to you guys. Who knows? Maybe I'll become a teacher when I grow up?"

Albus chuckled, "Well you'd make a good one."

Rose looked at her watch. Where was Scorpius with that book? Had he gotten lost in the Library! As soon as the thought crossed her mind, she saw Scorpius running towards her. He wasn't carrying the book and his face bore a troubled expression.

"What's wrong?" Rose stood up immediately. Albus did too.

Scorpius stared at her, his eyes blank.

"You'd better come with me."

Confused, Rose and Albus hurried after Scorpius as he urgently ushered them to the back of the Library where the potions shelf stood. As they got closer towards the shelf, Rose could hear something, sobbing. Someone was crying. Confused but picking up her pace, Rose followed Scorpius as he maneuvered his way to their destination. Scorpius suddenly stopped. Albus quickly hurried up to them. Rose could clearly hear the crying but couldn't see who it was. Scorpius was blocking her. Albus who was now standing next to Scorpius, gasped in shock. His hand covering his mouth

"Who is it?" Rose asked as she nudged Scorpius aside to take a better look.

But her words fell on deaf ears as she stared in horror at the girl curled up in a ball on the floor in front of them. She could barely recognise her. Her blonde hair was frazzled and out of place, her uniform was a mess and she was gripping her knees; rocking back and forth. Rose met her eyes, her deep, dark sad blue eyes and stood like a statue as dark tears streaked down her white porcelain face. She let out a little squeak.

"Sarah!"


	23. Double the Trouble

Rose hurried over to Sarah and sunk on her knees beside her. Sarah seemed to be completely oblivious to her presence, her blonde hair bunched around her face and covering her eyes. The only thing Rose could see were her quivering lips. Unsure of what to do next, Rose gently reached for Sarah's hand and squeezed it. Sarah did not pull away. Rose glanced up at the boys who looked just as bewildered as she felt. Trying to get Sarah to meet her gaze, Rose cleared her throat. Sarah's head snapped up. Getting a better look at her best friend, Rose had to stop herself from gasping in horror. She could hear Albus cough, trying to hold back his own exclamation of shock. Scorpius said nothing. She had never seen Sarah like this. She had obviously been crying for some time. Rose could see dried tear marks on her face and her eyeliner had smudged, leaving large dark black pools of ink beneath her eyes. Her eye bags were large and puffy. Pulling out a handkerchief from her pocket, Rose delicately tried to clean Sarah's face. Sarah stared at her silently as she tried her best to get off as much as possible. When Rose was done, Sarah looked much better. With the marks gone, Sarah's face looked clear again but Rose could still see clearly, her best friend's red and swollen eyes and flushed cheeks. And she was still sniffling. Tucking her handkerchief away Rose sighed and looked at Sarah expectantly, waiting for her to speak. When she did not, Rose decided to make the first move.

"Sarah, what's wrong?" she asked her.

Hearing her name, Sarah stopped sniffling instantly. She took a deep breath and sighed. Straightening her back but not standing up, she looked up to see Scorpius and Albus glancing at her nervously. Turning back to Rose, she shook her head stubbornly.

"You have to tell me" Rose insisted.

Sarah's lip quivered at her words and suddenly she was crying again, the fresh tears dripping off the tip of her nose.

"Sarah!" Rose exclaimed and pulled out her handkerchief again, handing it to her.

Sarah reluctantly took it from her and blew her nose. Rose waited until she was done. Dabbing the last of her tears away, Sarah looked resolved to speak.

"Greg..." Rose heard her mumble.

Rose groaned and sat herself down beside Sarah who leaned on her shoulder. Nowadays, Sarah and Greg had been having more and more fights. Now suddenly, there seemed to be more differences than similarities between them. Rose had known it would come to this but she knew that if she had told Sarah at the time what she had thought, Sarah would have been offended. Rose hadn't wanted to lose Sarah's friendship. So she had quietly watched as the couple had unravelled before her. Their fights always ended pretty badly with Sarah crying and Greg storming off but Greg was nowhere to be seen and Rose had never seen Sarah look so bad...

"Is it another fight about him not spending time with you?" she asked. "Because I told you not to bring it up with him."

Sarah shook her head vigorously.

"About not meeting you at Hogsmeade then? I thought you guys cleared that up? Anyway Sarah these things pass with time. Trust me, Greg will be running into your arms tomorrow morning at breakfast, begging you to forgive him." she encouraged.

Sarah shook her head. "No he won't."

Rose frowned. "Why not?"

"Because he'll be at the Ravenclaw table with Christine."

Rose choked on her own saliva and began coughing violently.

"Beg pardon?"

Sarah sighed as if Rose was a little child who couldn't understand English and turned to face her. Her eyes were intense and her voice was dangerously low.

"Greg dumped me for Christine."

At this point, Scorpius who had been silent nearly shouted, "He dumped you for Christine!"

Albus, annoyed, yanked Scorpius' shirt and pulled both of them closer to Sarah so that they could hear better. Scorpius pouted slightly but not wanting to get thrown out of the library, he remained silent.

"Christine Belchere? As in Belchy Christine?" Albus asked in disbelief.

Sarah shot Albus a look as if to say, "Of course that Christine! That's why I'm so upset about it!"

Scorpius was still just staring at Sarah with his mouth wide open, as if he was waiting for an insect to fly in. He was speechless.

Rose didn't blame either of them for their reactions. How could Greg leave Sarah for Christine? Christine of all people! In all honesty, Rose could say that anyone was beautiful compared to Christine. She wasn't being mean or anything. It was true. Christine was one of those people who never wore any kind of make up, someone who didn't stand out in the crowd and someone who was completely inexperienced when it came to matters of the heart. Christine Belchere had come from a land where exercise was non existent. She had long brown hair (nothing special compared to Sarah's light blonde) which she had worn in pigtails since their first year at Hogwarts. With that hair, people often mistook her to be younger than she actually was. It was embarrassing, for her. She had only ever worn one set of spectacles, a thick black pair that made her look a little like Professor Trelawney. She certainly behaved like her anyway. Over the years the only thing about Christine that had changed was her size. She had grown, horizontally not vertically. Like Greg she was a human food processing system. Everywhere she went, food would follow. It was appalling. Then of course there was her famous belch. It had earned her quite the reputation and nickname. Belchy Christine. It was firstly a pun on her surname Belchere but also it referred to Christine's indisputable belching talents. Christine belched all the time. During lunch, during class and some people claimed, in her sleep! And the belches weren't soft. No, quite to the contrary. People often said you could see Christine from a mile away and hear her from two. Rose, had no idea what a girl like Christine was doing in refined Ravenclaw. Worse still, how could anyone could drop delicate Sarah for hooligan Christine!

"Sarah, how could he drop you for her?" Rose asked exasperated.

"Yea!" Scorpius chimed in unexpectedly.

Everyone, including Albus glared at him.

"Er... sorry." he mumbled.

They turned back to Sarah."I caught them here. At this spot." she pointed to the ground. "Snogging."

At this point Albus gripped his chest violently and pretended to vomit. He gripped Scorpius who looked equally disgusted. Rose raised her eyebrows at the boys and shook her head.

"What did you do?" she asked Sarah.

Sarah shrugged, her face helpless. "I had no idea that they would be there Rosie... I asked Greg to come and hang out with me since it was free period but he told me he was going to hang out with the boys by the Lake. I actually believed him! The idiot that I was. So I told him not to worry and I would entertain myself. Because you were busy with extra Quidditch practice, I would be on my own. He pretended to feel bad and said he could come and hang out with me if I wanted but I told him to go and have fun! Aaargh! Anyway, I decided to go and get books for potions revision. You know it's not my strongest subject right? Plus we have the test next week."

Rose nodded in understanding.

Sarah breathed and pressed on, "So I come looking for the books right? I walk up to the shelf and then I hear something. Breathing, deep breathing. I didn't want to intrude. I kind of guessed what was going on. I mean people snog in the Li`brary all the time right? But I wanted to see who it was. So I carefully tip toe up to the shelf and peer around the side. And there they are Rosie! Christine Belchere pressed against the bookshelf with my boyfriend snogging her! It was awful..." Sarah trailed off but she didn't cry. She just seemed to be staring, blankly ahead.

Rose gripped her arm. "Then what?"

Sarah closed her eyes. "I did the first thing that came to my mind. I called out Greg's name. He turned around to face me, immediately letting go of Christine. Rose, I've never seen him like that before. It was like a mixture of happiness, anger and fear. He looked like a little boy who had been caught stealing cookies from a jar. And of course Christine was just staring at me in shock and guilt."

"Two faced jerk!" Albus gritted his teeth.

"Yea Rose was right about Greg all along Sarah" Scorpius added.

Sarah smiled and nodded.

"I knew she was. Rose always is. I always knew deep down it wouldn't last but I wanted to give him a chance you know? I thought since he was my first boyfriend, it could be special. So I behaved like a fool. I believed him instead of my best friend. And now I'm paying the price." she whispered.

Rose shook her head. "No Sarah don't blame yourself. How can you? I mean after awhile even I thought that dating Greg wasn't a mistake. He was so loving towards you. Nobody saw it coming."

Sarah sighed. "Exactly. But I should have seen it. I mean admit it Rosie, all the fights? They've been getting worse nowadays. He didn't want to spend so much time with me anymore. Those were all clear signs."

"Which anyone could have misread." Rose cut in.

"I thought Greg could be the one..."

Rose hugged Sarah comfortingly.

"What are the chances that the first guy you date will be the one?"

Sarah smiled. "One in a million?"

Rose smiled back. "Something like that..."

"There will be other guys Sarah." Scorpius encouraged.

"Ones that really deserve someone as great as you." Albus nodded.

Sarah chuckled. "Shucks. You guys are the best. Thanks" she smiled at Albus.

Rose suddenly remembered something.

"So you never told us what happened once he turned around" she reminded Sarah.

Sarah's eyes widened. "Oh yea. Well erm I stepped forward and I demanded to know what was going on. Not that I needed to, it was pretty obvious. Anyway Greg started to fumble on his words, didn't know quite what to do. Christine was just slouching there and giving me a look. Rosie! She gave me a smug look! What a prat! The very nerve of her, she looked like Mel I tell you."

Rose had to pat Sarah's back as Sarah gripped her fists together and quivered with anger, steam escaping from her ears and nostrils. Like a fire breathing dragon. But as Rose patted her, she calmed slightly.

"I asked him, what did he think he was doing and all he could do was murmur that he was sorry! That was all I got. A sorry. Then he started rattling off some crap about how it had evolved over time. How we had been drifting apart and all. Christine had come across him after one of our fights and she had comforted him. They had bonded, one thing led to another... You know the drill. Told me that we had nothing in common anymore and that we should stop trying to lie to one another. I bet Christine told him to tell me that! Then he had the audacity to say I was a good person, I deserved all the best and that I shouldn't take this so hard! He tells me that I should have found out a lot sooner because then I probably wouldn't have taken it so hard. Honestly, as if he really cared about my feelings? And then... she had the nerve to step forward and address me." Sarah breathed.

"Who?" Albus asked.

"Christine!" Sarah hissed.

"No!" they gasped in shock.

"Yea!" Sarah reassured them.

"She comes up to me and touches me! PRAT! She puts her hand on my shoulder and tells me not to take it too hard and that I can't win every fight! What in Merlin's name was she talking about, I thought to myself. Since when have I ever fought with her for something?She just wanted to seem refined and poised when she broke my heart... It's like she's using Greg as some kind of a prize, not even a real person. He's a tool to her! Rosie she tells me that Greg and her were made for each other that they are inseparable. I get really peeved at this. So I tell her, "Of course you guys are inseparable. Fat cells find kindred spirits amongst more fat cells." Then she got angry and called me a sore loser, that I can't change what happened because her meeting Greg was inevitable and then she calls me pathetic. I told her she was pathetic because since she couldn't get her own boyfriend, she had to go around stealing other girls' boys. Of course this riles her up even more so she turns around and stomps away!" Sarah smiled a little triumphantly.

"You tell her Sarah!" Rose cheered.

Sarah pouted at her. "I'm not done venting."

Rose flushed. "Sorry"

"So then I finally turn to Greg who doesn't seem to know what to do. He just watches Christine storm off. I ask him, what does he see in her. He can't answer. I think he doesn't want to "hurt my feelings" or something" Sarah mutters sarcastically. "I tell him not to do this. That I have given him everything. That I love him, still love him so much! But he shakes his head. He tells me it's too late to build a broken bridge. I tell him Christine's taking advantage of his weakened state. That she'll use him to build her ego and then dump him. She only needs him to boost her popularity. I really believe that to be the truth, Rose. But he won't believe me. He says they have something unique, Christine and him. He says I can't bear to see him happy because I couldn't make him as happy myself. I tell him that if snogging was his idea of happiness, I'm glad it's over."

Rose suddenly stopped Sarah, "You never snogged Greg?"

Sarah shook her head. "I believed in an emotional relationship. I thought Greg did too but obviously I was wrong." She continued.

"Then the next thing I know, I'm crying. I don't want to. I can't show him I'm weak. But I can't help it. I feel... empty. He tries to come and hug me but I shove him away. I tell him that if he comes within 3 feet of me, I'll hex him. So he just stands there, like a pathetic little fool. Then finally he just whispers sorry again and then he's gone. I watch him go and then I sink on the floor. I cry. I don't know how long I cry for. And then suddenly, you're here, Rosie, drying my tears and I don't feel empty because you're here." Sarah finished and she buried her head in Rose's shoulders.

"There there" she soothed her. "You're right. Christine, from what I heard from you, doesn't seem so genuine. Greg may think it's love but I don't think it is. He's so gullible and naive, he'll be the perfect stepping stone to take Christine from the poor pathetic nobody to the perfect popular somebody. Zero to Hero. She's a Ravenclaw, she smart, she knows how to use people. And once she's gotten there, once everyone forgets how annoying she used to be, once people forget how loud her belches are, she won't need him anymore. Don't worry about him Sarah. Don't even bother warning him about it. Let him get his heart broken and then maybe he'll realise what he did to you."

Albus snorted. "I rather let him realise that now!"

Scorpius cracked his knuckles in agreement.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Don't you think violence is overrated?"

Sarah nodded, "Yea you guys are not going to get into another fight!"

Albus sucked in his breath but finally sighed. "Fine..."

Scorpius looked disappointed as well.

"Besides" Sarah said finally standing up, "You're right. If he doesn't want to heed my advice, let him learn the hard way."

"Otherwise he won't learn" Scorpius added, offering his hand to Rose as she got up as well.

Rose nodded in agreement, taking his hand.

The four of them began to move away from the bookshelves and back towards the main section of the Library. Sarah linked arms with Rose and Albus who smiled at her encouragingly. Rose sighed to herself. She would help Sarah get through this. This would be a phase. Sarah was strong, not one of those girls who stayed upset for long. She would have her emotional breakdown and then she would take things in her stride, moving on quickly and with purpose. Time heals all wounds, Rose reminded herself of the saying again. But just as everyone began to relax again, they turned the corner and Rose saw the one person in the world she couldn't bear to see at the moment. Greg.

The others spotted him at exactly the same time. She felt Scorpius and Albus stiffen beside her lean forward, ready to pull out their wands. But Sarah seemed to be thinking the exact same thing as her and both the girls stuck out their hands to stop the boys. Greg on the other hand, was just standing there, in shock. He couldn't move. Sarah turned to Rose for help. Rose understood. Sarah didn't want to face Greg. Not now anyway. She wanted Rose to be the spokesperson. Looking at the boys reassuringly, Rose took a step forward towards Greg. She could hear Albus' breathing get louder and Scorpius was flicking his wand dangerously. Sarah stepped over to Albus, who took her hand comfortingly but his eyes were still locked on Greg. Rose turned to her friends and stared at them imploringly. She saw Scorpius place his wand in his back pocket. After an agonizing pause and another look from Sarah, Albus did the same. Everyone waited for what was about to happen next.

Rose walked up to Greg. She could see his mind was wheeling, his eyes looked a little panic stricken. As she reached him, Rose suddenly felt a wave of anger overcome her. It was so strong, so powerful, she had no idea what she was doing as she raised her hand. And then quick as lightning, she slapped him. She brought her right hand down on his cheek with as much force as she could muster. The feeling filled Rose's heart with a sense of accomplishment. She was doing it for Sarah. She felt Sarah gasp slightly and could hear one of the boys snicker. Greg said nothing. Gripping his cheek he looked up to meet Rose's eyes. There wasn't a trace of anger. Rose on the other hand, looked like she was about to explode. The slap had only generated more anger and hate within her.

"I deserved that." Greg muttered.

Rose said nothing and continued to glare at him.

"Sarah doesn't want to talk to me?" he asked, stating the obvious.

Rose refused to speak.

Greg sighed. "What do you want me to say to you Rose? Sorry? You weren't my girlfriend you know..."

Rose broke her silence, "You know that's not the point!" she hissed.

"What is the point then? Why the confrontation?"

"You broke her heart!" Rose spat pointing towards Sarah who was staring at Greg, intently.

Greg rubbed his temples. "I know"

Rose laughed. "You know? You knew that this would crush her and you still went ahead with it. She gave you everything. She opened up to you, placed herself in a vulnerable state and you still could do that to her? You monster! You selfish prat! I knew you cared about nothing but yourself! You hurt Sarah, it's as good as hurting me. And when you hurt me, you might as well prepare for your funeral."

"I didn't plan for it to end this way Rose" Greg begged her.

"Then you should have spared her this. You should have ended it when you realised you two were drifting apart! You should have done the decent thing and told her. You should have avoided all this... deception. You don't wait for your girlfriend to find you kissing another girl. Or did you want to hurt her? What has Sarah done to deserve that!" she wailed.

Greg shook his head. "She didn't. I made a mistake. A horrible mistake. I didn't realise it in time and by the time I did it was too late. I can't help how I feel. I'm sorry but I love Christine."

"Love!" Rose spat, "That's a strong word"

"It's true!" he protested.

"Christine will drop you like a hot pan once she's gotten into a popular clique you wait and see. She's just been dying all this while to be like us and she's using you!"

Greg's face darkened, "Sarah's managed to convince you of that theory hasn't she? Well it's not true. We love each other."

Rose rolled her eyes. "I don't have time for blind fools. You're naive. You'll regret your decisions Greg and one day when your a lonely old man with nobody to care for you, you'll wake up and realise that sarah was the best thing that ever happened to you and you'll regret letting her slip through your fingers!"

Greg folded his arms across his chest and glared at her.

"And as if you're an expert relationship handler Rose."

"I definitely wouldn't break someone's heart by cheating on them when I jolly well know they love me with all their heart. I'd take responsibility and I would admit to that person how I felt. Then I would try and work things out with them."

"You paint Sarah out to be better than what she actually is."

"Man up Greg! Stop putting the blame on Sarah. It takes two to make a relationship. Take responsibility for what you did wrong for a change!"

Greg sneered. "You know what I don't have to listen to this." he said turning to go.

"You're just afraid to admit to yourself that you made a mistake. You regret leaving Sarah for Christine already!" Rose called after him.

He wheeled around and stared at her. His voice was no more than a whisper.

"Before you go around lecturing people on their relationships, why don't you sort out your own problems first!"

Rose looked at him aghast. "My life is perfectly fine, thank you!" she spat.

Greg raised his eyebrows. "Really? Was it me or were 3 guys fighting over you in the Great Hall last month? I don't know about you but I think that's a pretty big issue to resolve."

Rose saw red. "That was none of my fault and it is resolved. Everything's back to normal." she murmured lowly.

Greg smirked seeing that he had hit her weak point.

"Oh... right of course it's never Rose's fault. And don't lie to yourself. Everything is not back to normal. What's worse, two of those guys are still fighting over you and you couldn't care less. You just pretend like the whole thing's not happening. But of course Rose can't be blamed for that. Haven't you thought about how the both of them feel? It's killing the both of them, fighting like this. I should know! You're torturing them. Either pick one of them or turn both down already!" he sneered.

Rose frowned. "I have no idea what you're talking about"

"Don't play innocent Rose!" Greg shook his head.

"There's only one boy who likes me... Leo!" she protested.

Greg smirked, "You're pretty thick aren't you? Are you actually telling me that you haven't noticed? I mean I thought it was so darn obvious."

Now Rose was completely bewildered. What in Merlin's beard was Greg saying?

"Who are you talking about?" she asked.

Greg, now completely assured that Rose was in the dark on the subject, lifted his gaze to someone standing behind them. Rose turned to see Scorpius glancing at her nervously, waiting for a sign on what to do. He was a dog and she was his master. He was waiting for some kind of command. Rose's eyes widened in realization at what Greg was suggesting and she whipped around the face him once more.

"You're lying! You're just trying to divert attention from the real problem here." she muttered hastily.

Greg raised his hands in surrender. "And you say that I'm naive?" he turned to leave. But at the last moment he seemed to remember something and turned, his gaze on Sarah who was still looking at them. They had been arguing relatively quietly so neither she nor the boys had heard what either Greg or Rose had said. So naturally, they were all curious about what was going on. Greg was staring at Sarah with true repentance in his eyes.

"I'm so sorry Sarah." he called out to her.

Rose watched as she saw her friends stiffen but she felt surprised as Sarah smiled slightly.

"I forgive you. Good luck with Christine." she replied positively.

He nodded stiffly, just as surprised as Rose had been and biting his lip as if in regret, he began walking away.

"Greg!" Rose called after him. She had to know if he had meant what he had suggested.

"Bye Rosie!" he playfully called to her but he did not turn around. To Rose, it was almost cruel.

Rose chewed her lip and turned to face the others who all wore relieved expressions on their faces. Rose felt the same. The confrontation was over.

Sarah was smiling. "I liked watching you slap him." she laughed.

Rose chuckled. "I liked slapping him."

"You go Rosie!" Albus stepped forward and patted her on the back.

Scorpius smirked at her as if to say "Go Rose!" and Rose glanced at him for a moment, thinking carefully. Her mind was whirring. She had to blink her eyes several times to clear her head. Now she wanted desperately more than anything in the world to get inside his head, to find out what he was thinking at the very moment, about her. But all of a sudden, she realised, she didn't have to. Just like that, all her doubts about what Greg had told her disappeared from her mind. Everything was now as transparent as glass. Because as she watched Scorpius gazing at her with an intense look in his eyes, his hand delicately squeezing her shoulder as if to comfort her, she realised with a sinking feeling in her stomach, that Greg had spoken nothing but the truth.

Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy, her fellow beater on the Quidditch team, her lab partner in Potions, her confidante by the Lake and her best guy friend, was in love with her.


	24. BackUp Scorpius

Rose sat in the empty compartment, waiting. For the first time, she was actually the first to arrive on the Hogwarts Express. The others, were still on their way. Gripping her rucksack tightly, Rose glanced out the window. She was all prepared for her fifth year. She had her books, uniforms, Athena and her wand. Rose suddenly felt very comfortable. She heard the compartment door slide open and she turned to see who it was. She smiled as Leo came in and sat opposite her. He smiled at her comfortably, settling himself down. Rose was glad that they were on talking terms again. It had been a rough road to recovery but eventually, 3 months after the incident at the Ball, they had reconciled. Rose and Leo had sat down together and had worked out their differences. Leo had gotten his feelings across and Rose had spoken out about hers. Both of them had apologized for their mistakes and then things were back to normal. As simple as that. It was great having Leo back in the group. Everyone welcomed him back. His presence always lightened the mood, especially when Sarah and Greg were there at the same time. Even though Sarah had forgiven Greg, nobody could blame her for holding a grudge. Greg didn't.

So life had gone on. It was still a little awkward at times, especially when they were alone together but Rose didn't regret spending time with Leo. She found him increasingly accessible these days and he had become her "Back-up Scorpius", her second listening ear. He had openly admitted to her that while he would always care for her, he had accepted that she would never feel the same way. He was, content with just being her friend. Talking to her as a friend, he had said, was better than not talking to her at all. And now, finally, he was moving on. Rose had heard from Sarah, that Leo's current fancy was none other than Claire. Rose had been glad to hear this. This meant that she needn't worry about hurting Leo if she was to engage in a relationship. Plus, Claire and Leo would make a sweet couple. Their "usually gentle" temperaments would suit one another. But of course, Claire would have to like Leo back in the first place... Glancing at him now, Rose realised how simply irreplaceable Leo was.

"Good holidays?" she asked him.

He nodded, "Yea played some Quidditch and er met up with some people."

Rose raised her eyebrow. "Who?"

"Claire" Leo flushed slightly.

Rose smiled cheekily.

"What's this? Someone's in love!" she sang.

Leo played with his fingers. "You ok with that?" he asked her nervously.

Rose crossed her arms. "No Leo I am not ok with it. I just wanted to keep you chained to me forever!" she pouted.

Leo stared at her in alarm.

Rose laughed.

"You should have seen your face!" she gasped.

Leo smirked and leaned across the compartment to smack Rose.

"Hey!" Rose pouted.

Leo chuckled.

"No but really," her face became serious. "I'm happy for you. I'm glad you've found someone who appreciates you and who will care for you the way you want them to." she smiled at him.

Leo nodded. "Thanks Rose, that means a lot to me. You know... coming from you. Claire's wonderful. Everyone thinks she and her sister and mean because they hang out with Mel but they are such sweet girls."

"Yea" Rose murmured. "I definitely approve of your choice. It would be a different story if you started dating Mel!"

Leo made a disgusted face. "Anything's better than Mel!"

"So are you guys gonna make it official?" Rose asked.

Leo shrugged. "Not sure yet. I've liked her for awhile but she only admitted she liked me back last month. It's still a bit early."

Rose nodded. "Yea sure. Don't worry Leo. My lips are sealed!"

Leo laughed. "You're the best Rose. You know I was kind of worried about your reaction..."

"Why?" Rose asked.

"Cos of our history. It might be weird?" Leo suggested.

Rose shook her head. "Nothing happened between us. So no I doubt feelings of jealousy were gonna stir within me. Actually I'm kind of relieved." she murmured.

It was Leo's turn to be confused. "Why?"

"I was afraid you weren't gonna move on, that you were just gonna pine after me. If that happened I would feel guilty and responsible. It would always nag me at the back of my brain... But the fact that you're taking a step with someone else, making it work with them, that's a comfort. Now at least I know that I didn't completely screw up your life."

Leo smiled at her for a moment. "You didn't screw me up Rose. You made me who I am today... in a weird way. Because of you I learnt some tough lessons but it also built my character, made me stronger and resilient. Sure it made me miserable at the time but ultimately I came out of the experience better. And yes, you'll always be special to me Rosie, but I'm not the kind of guy who doesn't know when to stop chasing a girl."

Rose laughed. "I'm so glad you're not that kind of guy."

"Me too" he grinned.

There was a pause as they both sighed.

"So how are things going with Scorpius?" Leo asked a little hesitantly.

Since Leo and Rose had made up, Rose had begun to confide her thoughts in him regarding Scorpius. She couldn't talk to Scorpius about it, obviously and ever since Sarah had broken it off with Greg, it had been awkward talking to her about boys. So Leo, "Back up Scorpius" had stepped in. Most normal people in her position, Rose figured, would have confronted Scorpius regarding his feelings. Of course, Rose being Rose, did not. In fact, ever since that day in the library, she, had been completely clueless on how to respond. Her main concern was how her friendship with Scorpius would be affected with the new information she had gathered.

Luckily, Leo had been there to help, handling the whole situation with surprising objectivity. He had patiently listened to Rose ranting about how she couldn't face Scorpius without thinking about what he was reading into her words, how she could ever talk to him with no reservations any more... After numerous counseling sessions by the Lake, Rose, not Leo had come to the conclusion, that her current path of action was the right one. In other wards, Rose had decided to do nothing. Her rational? Scorpius, if he bore serious feelings for her, would address the situation in his own time. In the meantime, she would pretend as if nothing had happened, as if Greg had never told her anything. Rose figured that burying the problem would be the easier route.

Leo of course, couldn't have disagreed more with her. It was mildly pathetic to watch Rose lying to herself, telling him that eventually the whole drama with Scorpius would blow over. Because Leo knew as well as Rose did, or at least as well as Rose's self consciousness did, that it wouldn't. Rose, Merlin bless her, was blind to it but Leo could see, as bright as day, that she was in love with Scorpius. As much as he was in love with her. It was so darn obvious the way they looked at each other, the way they talked to one another, the smiles exchanged between them. The only thing standing in Rose's way of happiness, was herself. Rose, was afraid of change and Leo recognised that. So he had begun, towards the end of their fifth year, to devise a plan. His theory was that if Rose could admit her feelings regarding Scorpius, her fear of taking the plunge would eventually disappear. However this brilliant strategy was easier said than done. Rose was as stubborn as a mule.

She had gotten it into her thick skull that the problem was, in no way related to how she felt about Scorpius, herself. But Leo refused to give up. He had tried over and over during their sessions together to bring up the subject, to get Rose to talk about her time with Scorpius, how he comforted, supported and encouraged her. To no avail. Rose, once she set her mind to something, would stick by her beliefs and this, had been one of those times. Rose insisted that if there was anything between Scorpius and her, he would bring it up, eventually. Knowing Scorpius, Leo knew this would be unlikely. He, was too shy for his own good, just like Rose. She lacked the pro-active attitude that Leo was desperately trying to cultivate within her. It felt strange to Leo, that he was trying to get together two people, completely in love with one another but completely oblivious to each other's behaviour. Furthermore, one of those two people had been an individual he had hoped to date barely a year before. In a way, Leo had been enjoying it as well. Almost like his pet project, that, at the rate Scorpius and Rose were progressing, would never end.

So school had ended and everyone had returned home for the holidays. During this time, Leo still sent Rose letters, dropping subtle hints that she should talk to Scorpius, that she should reflect upon her feelings. Apparently, Rose didn't pick up subtle messages. She obviously needed out right questions to respond. So naturally, there had been no progression over the holidays and Rose was as ignorant as ever, still the same ostrich with her head in the sand. Sitting across from her now, Leo could tell that this session they were about to embark on, would see no progress either. Still, it didn't hurt to try.

"I'm not really in the mood to talk about this..." Rose sighed rubbing her temples.

Leo shook his head, "You're never in the mood to talk about it."

"Then why do you keep pressing me to address it?"

"Because both of us know that eventually, something's gotta give."

"I don't know how long I've been trying to tell you. We don't need these little counseling sessions anymore. We came to a logical and reasonable conclusion on what to do."

"No, we didn't. YOU came to a supposed logical and reasonable conclusion. I think that we still haven't nipped the problem in the bud."

"Do you actually enjoy tormenting me?"

"Is that a rhetorical question?"

Rose slumped in her seat and stared at Leo. Why wouldn't he let her be? Rose had decided that for the good of everyone, in order to prevent the breakdown of any relationships, she would not respond to the idea of Scorpius liking her. If he really was serious about her, he would approach her, not she approach him. If he did, then they would decide upon how to proceed from there. But now Leo was trying to get her to talk about how she felt about Scorpius? Asking her what she would do if she did want to date him? These were pointless questions! She was not being faced with that prospect so why did she have to consider the possibility? Why was Leo trying to make things so complicated? Was it a twisted way to get back at her for breaking his heart? She highly doubted that. But still, things had become way too difficult for Rose to handle. She just wanted everything to stay the same. And it had. Scorpius and her still took walks and still had chats, still played Quidditch together and still cracked jokes.

Leo and his questions only made her friendship with Scorpius unnecessarily awkward, for her, because she was forced to think about those questions whenever she spent time with him. The rate he was going, Leo was going to destroy her friendship with Scorpius not heal it. Thank Merlin that Scorpius hadn't been noticing any strange behaviour on her part. Or maybe he had noticed but had been tactful enough to mention anything to her... Thinking about her situation to herself, Rose realised just how messed up her life was. Greg had been right. She had no place to mess about with other people's problems when she couldn't even fix her own! She thought she had fixed them, she had really believed that ignoring the fact that Scorpius harbored romantic feelings for her would have solved everything. But it was becoming painfully obvious that she had been wrong. With every new remark by Leo, Rose felt the strain on the relationship growing. And now it was becoming impossible for her to avoid reading into Scorpius' remarks, just as how Leo had predicted. Trust herself to be so stubborn, Rose had reflected. But she would never admit that to Leo... Rose felt like someone who had been trapped in a cave their whole life and was looking at the sun for the first time. It was nice to see the light but the glare was very uncomfortable and painful.

Leo looked at Rose. As she had slumped in her seat he had watched her face change, as she was thinking. From stubborn and resentful to something very different. He was shocked. For the first time, she looked... defeated. He knew, for some reason, he knew what had happened. The emotional turmoil had finally tipped her over the edge. It had only taken that little comment from himself to complete the process. She had admitted to herself, she had been wrong. Of course she wouldn't admit it to him directly, Leo knew, Rose was too proud. But he knew it to be true. And finally, they might move somewhere. Perhaps this session wouldn't be so un productive after all. Rose slowly sat up and faced Leo who was chuckling to himself.

"What?" she retorted to him.

He shook his head.

"Nothing but I think I've finally overcome your stubbornness."

Rose frowned. "No idea what you're talking about."

"You can be in denial Rosie but both of us know that you've just figured out that you can't handle this problem the way you have."

Rose sighed. Leo, her back up Scorpius was becoming more and more like real-life Scorpius every day. Or was she just that easy to read?

She bit her lip.

"What do you suppose I do?" she murmured.

She almost seemed to be addressing herself, not Leo.

"I've been trying to tell you for the longest time Rose, you need to solve the problem. What you've been doing, you're just burying it. Sweeping dust under the rug, the muggle expression goes. Eventually a strong gust is gonna blow and everything's going to resurface."

Rose stared at Leo a little annoyed.

"Can you stop with the strange analogies?" she asked.

Leo smirked. "Sure, Rose."

Rose kicked up her heels and lay down across the seat of the compartment. Placing her arms behind her head she stared at the ceiling.

"Ok counselor, what's step one?" she asked.

Leo thought about this for a moment. He hadn't anticipated that Rose would have given in to his requests of admission so soon. He hadn't prepared any so called questions to probe her further.

"Erm..." he said after a pause, "Let's start with this, why are you afraid of change."

"I am not afraid of change!" Rose retorted suddenly, momentarily reverting back to her stubborn attitude.

Leo frowned at her for a moment and Rose grudgingly fell into silence. After a pause, she spoke.

"Well I guess it's only natural, I like things to stay the same, I don't like being out of my comfort zone."

There was a nod of approval from Leo.

"Ok, at least we're getting somewhere now. Good Rose. Now what do you think will change between you and Scorpius if you confront him?"

"We've been through this already before."

"I want you to say it again. Out loud."

"I don't want to lose that comradely relationship. If I confront him, emotions would run high, both of us would get upset. He would be uncomfortable discussing the matter before he's ready and I'm scared of giving him the wrong impression if I confront him."

"Wrong impression?"

"I don't want him to read into what I'm saying."

"So are you saying now that you don't care for Scorpius the way he cares for you?"

"Now you're reading into my words Leo! I wasn't saying anything. I can't believe you..."

"And I can't believe that we've talked about this issue for months and not once have you addressed how you feel about Scorpius! You've dodged this question time and time again I think that's the heart of the problem here." Leo cried out.

"I didn't think there was the need to. And I'll decide what's the heart of the problem here" came the reply.

"Look how well that turned out." muttered Leo.

Rose gritted her teeth but made no answer.

"Ok, well now is the time to talk about it. How do you feel about Scorpius?" Leo bluntly asked, his heart pounding with adrenaline. Would Rose actually admit anything? Or were they back at step one? Maybe he had taken things a bit too fast.

"I treat him like a brother." Rose murmured. "I care for him like a brother. I've invited him into my home and he's invited me into his. We share secrets and we exchange thoughts."

"So no romantic feelings?" Leo pushed.

Rose covered her eyes with her hands.

"I never said that." she almost spat.

Leo smiled inwardly. They were getting close.

"So what is it then?" he asked. "What's so difficult regarding your relationship with Scorpius that you can't express in words?"

"I..." Rose was struggling. Thinking about it, she realised she couldn't be sure.

"I don't know..." she trailed off.

"Yes you do!" Leo shouted. His voice seemed to shake the compartment.

Rose's eyes widened and her body stiffened at his tone but she didn't get up. Leo wouldn't hurt her, he was just frustrated. He was trying to help her. But she couldn't let him. She didn't know how to. It was like she was a little girl again, learning how to fly on a broom. She needed someone to be there, to show her the way.

"You're just burying it. Pretending that you don't know. Search yourself Rose! Find the truth!" he cried.

"How?" she cried back.

"I can't tell you that. I can't instruct you. You need to do it on your own. You have to want it Rose! You have to want to admit it!" he explained.

"I do want to admit it!"

"Then what's stopping you?"

Rose felt a tear trickle down the side of her face. Her lungs seemed to be contracting and she felt like wailing in frustration. It was building within her as if she was a pressure cooker.

Sitting up straight, Rose stared at Leo for a moment. Her mind was wheeling and now the tears were fast flowing. Was this it then? Was it the pivotal moment Leo used to harp on about during their talks by the Lake, the point where everything would become clear. She certainly felt like it was. The pressure was about to hit her but it was still rising, higher and higher. Her heart pounding, she considered the gravity of what she was about to admit. Because Leo was right. She knew, she knew what made her relationship with Scorpius so difficult. It was frightening that Leo had the power for her to admit something that she never thought she could, even to herself. When she had first subconsciously recognised the emotion, Rose had never believed that it was even possible to feel that way about, of all people, Scorpius.

"Nothing." she answered. Her voice was barely a whisper.

Leo who had gotten up and was pacing the cabin, screeched to a halt. He turned towards Rose who was staring back at him. Her soft silent tears were sliding down to her chin. She didn't seem to notice. She was shivering slightly. Fear, Leo acknowledged. That had been cultivated partially because of his harsh tone. Crossing over, Leo knelt in front of her and took her hand, squeezing it gently. They had arrived. Everything was happening so quickly. A bit too quickly for his liking but he knew with Rose, it was now or never. And he was determined to see this through. With her. She had faced too much self suppression and torture.

"Just say it." he told her.

Rose breathed deeply. Leo was right. He had always been right. Admission was the first step. She would feel so much better if she just said it.

"Say it." he repeated, his grip on her hands, tightening.

Rose nodded as she stared into his encouraging eyes. A wave of calm came over her. Suddenly she didn't care about what would happen next, what the consequences of her confession would be. All that mattered, was now. The lid of the pressure cooker had been lifted and Rose felt light, like a cloud floating away on all that escaped steam. She was now laughing and crying at the same time. Leo, observing her reaction, broke into a grin. She felt, wonderful. Summoning all her strength in a deep breath, Rose opened her mouth to speak.

"You're right Leo." Rose sobbed. "You were always right and I'm sorry that I didn't believe you when you told me I was afraid. Because I was and I still am afraid. Scorpius' friendship to me, has never been ordinary. There was always something more, much more. I recognised that but I pretended that I hadn't. I've been such a fool! I was so obsessed with keeping things exactly the way they were, in a little neat bow... But I don't care anymore. This is my chance, to be happy. And I should seize it, shouldn't I?"

Leo nodded in reassurance.

Rose sighed and continued, "I need to tell Scorpius how I feel about him. This is why our relationship's so complicated. It's because I'm in lov..."

Rose was suddenly cut off as the compartment door slid open.

Leo who was still looking at Rose cried out in irritation, "You couldn't have waited one more minute?"

Rose chuckled at his out burst and sighed. She didn't know whether to feel relieved or upset. A part of her was still holding on to that streak of stubbornness, that desire to hide but the rest of her had been dying to spit out the truth she had kept to herself for far too long. The pair smiled slightly at each other.

Rose and Leo both turned in amused frustration to see who had interrupted Rose but both of them froze suddenly as they watched Scorpius as he stood at the door, his face lined with surprise, confusion and shock. His right arm was against the the entrance of the compartment and the other was on his hip. Rose's heart was pounding. Had he heard everything she had said? Then why cut her off? The same thoughts were flying through Leo's mind. What did they do now?

"Hi.." Scorpius' mouth twitched slightly. His voice wasn't warm. In fact it sounded rather stiff and forced.

Rose winced at his tone.

"Hi" both Rose and Leo replied instantly.

Scorpius stood there in the doorway, looking at the pair for a moment. After a pause he looked at the ground and rubbed the back of his neck. He stared at Rose, then Leo and his eyes rested on tears that were streaming down Rose's face.

"Was I interrupting something then?" he asked.

Rose looked at him in confusion, then at Leo who looked equally bewildered and then instinctively, at her hands. Her eyes widened in horror and realization as she realised that Leo was still holding on to them. Leo seemed to realise this at the exact same time and instantly both of them let go of one another, Rose rubbing her hands on her skirt vigorously. Using her uniform blouse, she swiped her arm across her face, ridding it of her tears. It was almost like she was a criminal, trying to dispose of evidence.

"No!" she said in response to Scorpius' questions but she knew with a pang in her stomach that he would not believe her.

"Yea," Leo said quickly sitting himself back in his seat. "We were just talking"

Scorpius raised an eyebrow. "Uh huh."

Stonily, Scorpius turned to close the compartment door. He walked over to the seat beside Rose, his eyes boring into her the whole time. He silently, took his customary seat beside her but his usual comforting presence seemed to have evaporated from his whole being. He was as cold as ice. Rose shifted a little uncomfortably in her seat. Great. Just great. Now Scorpius believed that she liked Leo. That there was something between the two of them. This was perfect. How could she be in love with Leo when she knew someone as wonderful as him? Now things were definitely not going to be the same between them. He would ignore her maybe, or perhaps he would stop doing homework with her and it would be all of Rose's fault. The possibilities flashed past Rose and she felt like tearing. If only she had spat the truth out a little sooner, Leo wouldn't have had to come over to encourage her! Staring across the compartment at Leo, she smiled reassuringly as he stared back, his face full of apology and helplessness. He blames himself, she thought. But it wasn't his fault. It was hers. All hers. She had to do something. She had say something. Otherwise this train ride would be the most uncomfortable one of her life. Her mind resolved, she turned to Scorpius.

Scorpius, who had been staring at the ceiling, obviously thinking, felt her gaze on him and turned, rigidly. Rose smiled a little at him but he did not smile back. Rose thought she heard Leo gulp nervously. Trying to ignore this fact Rose breathed.

"So Scorp, how were your holidays?"


	25. Enter the Couples

"Rose!"

Rose looked up in astonishment as her best friend came charging towards her, running past the house tables, pushing people aside in the process. People stared at Sarah as she ran, as if she was some kind of wild hippogriff. She looked like she was out of control. Rose watched bemused as Sarah reached her, her hair out of place, panting, her eyes sparkling. She had had the exact same expression on her face on the day she realised she had made the Quidditch team. Gripping her knees as she caught her breath, Rose watched patiently as Sarah prepared herself to speak. Since Rose had been sitting alone, her lunch lay on the table, forgotten. Several of their fellow Slytherins were staring, dying to know what Sarah was so excited about but Sarah was taking so long to regain her strength that most of them lost interest relatively quickly.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on... today?" Rose asked her.

Sarah laughed and sat herself beside on Rose's left.

"Yea... eventually." she smiled broadly.

"Uh huh." Rose shrugged. "Well till then I'll be here, eating."

Rose remembering the uneaten food, resumed her meal.

There was a brief pause till she felt a light hand on her shoulder.

"Yes Sarah" she smiled.

"I have fabulous news." Sarah's already existent smile widened.

"I guessed." Rose retorted.

Sarah chewed her lip.

"Well I think it's fabulous but I'm not sure you'll feel the same way..." she began a little hesitantly.

Rose stared at her for a moment. Suddenly a lightbulb went off in her head.

"No way Sarah! I knew it, I knew you were the one who played the prank on Greg. I always was under the impression that you were the good girl type, would never play a prank you know? Getting his hair to turn green, ah a classic! I was so proud!" she cheered smacking Sarah on the back. A couple of weeks ago, there had been a nasty prank that had been played on Greg. Someone had cursed his hair green. No amount of washing or spells could reverse the process. Greg had had to spend the whole day with green hair like the ridiculous baboon he was. Rose had instantly suspected Sarah of the master spell even though she found it strange that Sarah had waited this long to do something nasty to Greg. After all, they had been separated for almost half a year now...

Sarah frowned. "For your information, I have never played a prank in my life, despite my Slytherin affiliation. I didn't play that prank Rose. I thought one of the boys did to get back at Greg. Besides that's old news..."

"Oh. Never mind then." Rose flushed, a little embarrassed. She turned back to her food.

"Though I did think, whoever played that prank was an absolute genius!" Sarah grinned wickedly.

Rose raised a brow.

"So what is the great news?"

Sarah breathed deeply and grabbed Rose's hand. Surprised Rose turned to face her. Sarah had a look in her eyes. A look of pleading.

"Don't be mad?" she asked. "I didn't tell you earlier because I thought it would be weird and I couldn't be sure if he really felt that way about me. But now I know because he just told me. He told me he loved me."

Rose's eyes widened.

"This is about a boy?" she asked.

Sarah nodded a little guiltily.

"I don't want you think that I didn't want to share it with you. I just thought you might be a little creeped out..." she trailed off.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Will you stop with all the drama about not telling me already! Just tell me who the guy is!" she said excitedly.

Sarah smiled. "Albus."

Rose blinked several times. She couldn't believe she was hearing this. Sarah, her best friend, was in love with her cousin Albus? And Albus had told Sarah that he loved her. Albus and Sarah might soon be a couple, if they weren't already? Woa... She did not see that one coming. Or maybe she had but she had just been too wrapped up in her own problems to notice and put the pieces together. She was a little embarrassed at her lack of observation skills. After all, Albus did literally live 3 bedroom doors down from her. There must have been some clues that she had missed. This couldn't have popped out of nowhere. Her mind was reeling, her eyes were glazed over.

"Rose?" Sarah waved her hand in front of Rose's face. "You ok?" she sounded concerned.

Rose blinked again and then met Sarah's eyes.

"Yea.. I erm. I'm great. Fantastic actually. Couldn't be better."

Sarah smirked. "Now I know you're lying."

Rose sighed.

"Now I know why you didn't want to tell me..."

Sarah bit her lip.

"Oh no, you're angry. Darn! I shouldn't have told you." she panicked.

Rose shook her head and caught Sarah's wrists.

"No! Don't say that. We're best friends. We shouldn't keep secrets from each other, no matter what. Promise me that from now on, you'll never be afraid to tell me anything again? I don't want to seem like this intimidating person you can't tell anything to. What kind of a friendship is that?" she begged.

Sarah nodded. "I don't want you to be that person. I don't want to be that person to you either. I want our friendship to be open and I do want to tell you anything. I guess, we all get scared from time to time. Especially in cases like these... Wouldn't it be weird for you had to tell me you were in love with my cousin?"

Rose laughed a little. Right now the whole situation seemed like a dream to her, so unreal.

"You're eldest male cousin is 8!" she shook her head.

Sarah raised an eyebrow.

"Exactly" she murmured darkly.

"Eeew!" Rose smacked Sarah's shoulder.

Sarah's lighthearted expression faded slightly and she became serious. "But seriously, you have to promise too ok? You promise me that you'll tell me everything from now on? No reservations?"

Rose smiled. "Of course. Absolutely no holding back. To each other, we'll be open books. And Sarah, I am happy for you. Truly. Especially after Greg... you deserve happiness. And Albus, I hope can give you that. I was just so shocked that's all. But shocked does not translate to displeasure."

Sarah chuckled. "It's the only reaction I'd expect from you Rosie.

The pair smiled encouragingly at one another.

"So" Rose leaned back to get a better view of Sarah. "You and Albus huh?"

"We're not an item!" Sarah protested. "Well... yet." she mumbled hopefully.

"How did it happen?" Rose asked, interested.

Sarah fiddled with her hair a little playfully.

"Well I'm not sure. Sometime after the whole Greg fiasco you know?"

Rose nodded. It made sense. Sarah had had issues re-assimilating herself into the Hogwarts dating scene. Albus and Scorpius had spent numerous days, along with Rose, trying to help Sarah win back her self confidence, helping her to put herself out there again. Somewhere along the way, perhaps Albus had seen something in Sarah, something he had previously overlooked. Wondering about it now, Rose found it odd to think of her cousin as her best friend's love interest but at the same time, she felt glad too. Somehow it made her feel like her friends and the people closest to her, were all much more connected. She loved having everyone special to her, close and this relationship between Albus and Sarah, would only increase the possibility of that. But of course Rose's thoughts and concerns weren't only about herself. Or how she would possibly benefit from this situation. This was of course, about Sarah and Albus. And how this relationship would affect them. Whether it would work and if it didn't what then? If for some reason it didn't work out, Rose contemplated with fear and dread the possible side effects the result would have on her loyalties and ties to these two very important individuals.

But for now, those nasty thoughts were out of her head. Because, unlike Sarah's first relationship, Rose was unafraid of how this one would turn out. She wasn't being prejudiced just because Albus was her cousin. In fact because Albus was her cousin, she scrutinized the possible outcomes more. But thinking it over now, Rose was comforted by one large fact which she knew to be true. Albus would take care of Sarah. She knew that he had the potential to be a committed and a caring boyfriend. Albus, Rose knew had flaws. Many of them. As his cousin, it was her job to identify them. But he had many good points to him too. And one of the strongest points was that, unlike Greg, he was not self absorbed at all. He put others before himself. He loved to please others not himself. It was precisely this quality that drew many to him, including Rose.

And then there was Sarah. The more she thought about it, Rose realised, how ideal she was for Albus. She cared about others, so people centered. She was a team player and her calm personality would balance out Albus' hot head. She loved flying just like Albus and she was dedicated to her friends. Both of them shared so many principles and beliefs, Rose was surprised why she hadn't seen how amazing they would have been together earlier.

"What are you thinking about?" Sarah shook Rose out of her thoughts.

Rose smiled at her.

"How wonderful a boyfriend Albus will be for you. And what a good girlfriend you'll be for him." she replied honestly.

"Really? You think so?" Sarah asked hopefully.

Rose nodded. "A much better one that Greg was, I'm sure."

Sarah sighed. "Yea he better be. Plus like I said, we're still not an item... He hasn't asked me."

Rose smiled. "He will. And Sarah, I want you to remember, Albus won't hurt you. He's better than that. And if he does, I'll take care of him."

Sarah grinned. "I know. That's why I started liking him. So when he hurt me, I could watch you beat him up."

Rose laughed.

"Or you could beat him up yourself..." she said indicating to the approaching figure behind them.

Sarah turned around and smiled broadly. Rose watched in happiness and for some reason, pride as Albus approached them. He was half walking, half running towards them, his eyes fixed on Sarah. Rose felt like the third wheel but she didn't care. They both looked so happy... And that was what Rose cherished more than anything else, seeing her friends happy. Sarah rose to greet him. Rose instinctively followed.

"There you are!" Albus embraced Sarah, looking a little relieved as he reached her. "After I told you I loved you, you just screamed yes and ran off. I thought that you'd suffered some kind of a seizure. Trust you to tell Rosie first." his eyes rested on Rose.

Rose laughed. "Yea well. I am her best friend!"

Albus glanced at Sarah and then at Rose.

"I take it you approve then?" he asked a little meekly.

Rose raised an eyebrow.

"Of course I do. Why wouldn't I?"

Albus looked a little surprised.

"We just figured that you might find it odd."

"Guys," Rose began, "I'm your friend not your parents..."

Sarah placed her head on Albus' shoulder.

"But your opinion matters to us."

"Your good opinion." Albus emphasized.

Rose chuckled.

"Well you have it you, lovebirds!"

Albus and Sarah glanced at each other. Albus slowly broke away from Sarah and gazed at the two girls for a moment.

"I forgot to ask you Sarah, you didn't give me time because you ran off so quickly but I wanted to ask you..." Albus began, taking Sarah's hand. Sarah gazed at him, her blue eyes swimming with emotion. What was about to happen? Merlin knew.

Rose's eyes widened as she realised suddenly what she was about to witness.

"Sarah Paddington, I love you. I promise I will care for you always, never hurt or disappoint you, never force you to do anything you don't want to do and that I will respect you. So with these promises, I hope you will do me the honour of being my girlfriend?" Albus almost shouted.

Rose laughed. Trust Albus to kick start the relationship with a bang. Not to mention, a loud bang.

Sarah's eyes widened in surprise. She obviously had not been expecting that. She looked almost embarrassed for creating a scene. She turned expectantly to Rose waiting for an answer, her hands still gripping Albus'. Albus gazed at Rose, waiting, hoping.

Rose frowned, crossing her arms.

"Why in the name of Merlin are you looking at me? It's not my place to answer!" she cried.

Sarah blinked in surprise.

"Oh right." she shook her head.

Turning back to Albus she stared at him for her moment. Then without warning, she leaned forward and kissed him full on the mouth. Albus' eyes widened slightly but his face was lit up like a Christmas tree. Hs arms went around Sarah and he lifted her gently off the ground, spinning her around. Sarah stopped kissing him and gripped his neck, still spinning and laughing. Other people in the Great Hall, having noticed what had occurred thanks to Albus' loud speech, had taken a break from their lunch and were watching in pleasant surprise and approval at the newly formed couple. A sudden applause and cheering broke out. There were wolf whistles and hoots. Rose couldn't help but smile and cheer with the crowd. They were adorable together. Across the Slytherin table, Rose could see Greg and Christine watching. He was gripping Christine's hand and his mouth was wide open. His eyes had a strange look in them. Greg looked flabbergasted. Rose smirked. Served him right for letting Sarah go.

As the cheers rang in her ears and as Sarah and Albus twirled around in front of her, Rose watched the pair and suddenly felt a pang. Would she ever experience this with Scorpius? she wondered. But now was not the time to think about herself. Pushing the thoughts out of her head, she focused on the couple in question.

"I take that as a yes?" Albus smirked.

Sarah burst out laughing, tears of happiness were suddenly streaming down her face.

"Yes. Yes. A thousand times Yes!" she cried.

"Yea! Go Albus!" came a call from the Griffindor table.

All three of them laughed.

Albus stroked Sarah's cheek gently. By now, the cheers had died down, people having turned back to their lunches and few people noticed his action. Only Greg, who was still staring obsessively at the trio seemed deeply affected. His eyes seemed to be on fire and his face seemed bloated up but of course Sarah was oblivious. Who could think about angry exes at a time like this?

"Thanks Rose." Albus smiled at his cousin.

"What did I do? You were the one who asked her to be your girlfriend, rather loudly I might add." she remarked.

"You brought us together." Sarah explained.

"You brought Griffindor and Slytherin together and without you, we might never have been friends. You helped us to bond..."

"Ok! I can be spared the gross details Albus." Rose threw her cousin a disgusted look.

"You won't think it's disgusting when you fall in love Rosie. When you find the one..." he trailed off as Sarah's eyes caught his again.

Rose's heart ached. They had no idea.

"Well..." she cleared her throat. "I have to get to class anyway. I know it's early but I wanna get some work done. So I'll leave you two." she smiled.

Placing her hand on Sarah's shoulder, she gazed at them a final time. Albus and Sarah represented something that Rose believed she could never have. She had to go before she lost it. It was a very bad time for an emotional breakdown.

"Take care of her." she turned to Albus.

Suddenly Albus reached out and hugged her fiercely. She hugged him back, holding back tears. In that moment, she had never loved her cousin more.

"I promise Rosie. And I've never broken my promise to you have I?" he murmured.

Rose pulled away.

"Just once." she smiled reminding them of their argument in their first year.

Albus winced and began to speak but Rose waved her hand silencing him.

"The past is past." she reminded him and stared at Sarah intensely, hoping she would finally put Greg behind her now. Sarah, seeming to pick up on her que, nodded in understanding and smiled encouragingly.

Rose patted them on their backs in satisfaction. She sighed as she looked at her bits of lunch still remaining on her plate. It looked like she wasn't going to finish her meal after all.

"See you." she smiled and grabbing her stuff, she began to make her way off to class. Alone.

Walking through the empty corridors, Rose could hear her footsteps echoing on the hard floor. She was processing everything that had just happened. It was official, she decided. Her life was too dramatic. Thinking of Albus and Sarah again, Rose felt a mixture of emotions. Her initial happiness for them had now evolved, as she had feared, into jealousy. It had been the reason why she had wanted to get away. She didn't want to be the cause of any trouble on their special day. Looking up to the ceiling, Rose tried to distract herself with thoughts of Ancient Runes. But it appeared her alone time was about to be cut short. As her mind began to settle once more and as her emotions began to stabilize, all thoughts about Scorpius gone, she heard a familiar voice call her name.

She turned to see Leo hurrying towards her, his rucksack in hand.

"I have to talk to you." he breathed deeply as he reached her. He looked a little panicked and his eyes were wide and frantic.

Rose scratched her head.

"About what?"

"Scorpius."

Rose groaned.

"I just went through hell in the Great Hall as I watched my best friend and cousin officially declare themselves an item. The last thing I need now is a reminder about Scorpius!"

Leo shook his head.

No it's important Rose!"

Rose began to pace. Turning to face Leo after a pause, she gave in.

"You have one minute to explain what's up." she retorted.

Leo breathed. "Thank You!"

Rose began to walk on and Leo followed her.

"So you know how Scorpius has been really upset because he still thinks we are dating?" Leo asked.

Rose pursed her lips.

"You wanna tell me something I don't know."

Leo nodded, "Yea I'm getting to that..."

Leo had bad news for Rose. Horrible news. It was common knowledge that ever since the train incident, Scorpius had been acting rather irrationally. No matter how many hints Rose dropped to him, assuring him that she was not dating anyone, Scorpius was still sure that there was something between Leo and her. These suspicions were reflected in his actions. Leo had wondered in astonishment if he had been this illogical regarding Rose and the Ball in his fourth year... Scorpius' strange behaviour had started slowly at first. He would make odd comments regarding Leo and Rose to one another and in front of large groups of people, mentioning how good Rose looked in the light or how, he, Leo flew well on his broom. It was as if he wanted them to feel awkward around each other, no doubt Leo knew, in the attempt to get them to spend more and more time apart, to avoid the embarrassment and teasing from Scorpius. When that didn't work, Scorpius started using bolder tactics. Every time the three of them were alone together, Scorpius would make an excuse to leave to give Leo and Rose their, "Quiet time." Worse still, Scorpius made sure he was never left alone with Rose, ever. His excuse was that Leo would get jealous. And he didn't keep his thoughts of Rose and Leo to himself. Leo had realised that Scorpius, if he wanted, could be a bit of a gossip. Bit of, was an understatement. There had been a point in time where Rose and Leo hadn't been able to go anywhere together because people would tease them, believing they were an item. The source of these rumours? Who else? Scorpius of course. The rumours had caused Leo, especially quite a bit of grief because his real girlfriend, Claire, had begun to fear that he was cheating on her. Leo had to go through the tedious process of explaining the drama between Rose and Scorpius to her. While Claire had believed him, the complication certainly hadn't helped their relationship. But it Rose that Leo's heart went out to, not himself. Despite it all, her face never betrayed her emotions. She was a rock through it all, putting up a good show and calmly discrediting any false rumours. Things had been going on like this for about 2 months now and they were about to get a lot worse.

Scorpius and Leo had been having arguments, verbal non violent ones, in their dorm since school had started. In fact, why they had stayed non violent was a mystery to Leo. Probably because the both of them were unwilling to have a repeat telecast of their fight from fourth year. These fights were mostly started by Leo who had been trying for ages to convince Scorpius there was nothing between him and Rose. He felt bad about all the pain the rumours and Scorpius' comments were causing her. He just wanted to see Rose happy and Scorpius, the person who could provide that happiness was ironically, the one who was denying her of it. But Scorpius proved to be just as stubborn as Rose. He refused to listen to reason, ranting about how long he had loved Rose and how Leo had snatched her away from him... again. Listening to Scorpius sometimes during those fights, Leo felt sorry for him. He cared for Rose so much but had no idea that Rose felt exactly the same way. Seeing Scorpius in that state made Leo perceive him in a completely different light. Here was strong, confident Scorpius, kneeling on the ground, weeping like a girl about how he could never have Rose no matter how much he tried! Because she could not care for him the way he did for her. In those moments, Scorpius never addressed Leo. It was almost like a self-confession, shouting and wailing. Like the ranting of a madman. Leo would watch in awe. The great Scorpius, humbled right before his eyes! Leo wished that Rose could see Scorpius like that. Not to hurt her but to help her understand that she had to end this. To make her see just how much pain she was causing him. She had to break down his barriers and get through to his core, to the heart that loved her more than anything in the world. She had to tell Scorpius to his face, that she loved him. Only then would all this nonsense stop. But as he related his news to Rose, Leo knew it was too late for that. Much to late.

Because the night before, Scorpius had spoken to Leo. It hadn't been a fight like the ones they usually had. During those nightly fights, Scorpius would usually rant on and on while Leo would shout at him, telling him how foolish he was and that he could not see the truth. They would go on bickering, almost like old gossipy women. These arguments would last for a couple of hours and at the end of it all, they would always end at the same spot where they had started. No progress whatsoever. Just like Rose, Leo would always think. So Leo had been glad that for once, both of them had managed to control their tempers. The rest of the boys in the dorm certainly were. Thanks to Leo and Scorpius, many of the Slytherin boys, not just the fifth years had suffered from sleepless nights. It had been a common sight at the start of the year to walk into a classroom and see most of the Slytherin boys, apart from Leo and Scorpius, with their heads on their desks, yawning. The teachers, had never quite discovered the cause for this and, much to Leo's amusement, had been apparently racking their brains trying to determine it. So it was a great and pleasant surprise when the teachers had stepped in this morning to see all the Slytherin boys, bright and alert for class. Leo had seemed to be the only unhappy one. This was because with the day, came this dreaded news, the news that he now had to deliver to Rose. The source of this news, came ironically from the cordial conversation between Scorpius and himself.

Re-enacting the conversation in his mind and relating it to Rose at the same time, Leo shuddered slightly. "It went something like this..." he spoke softly to Rose whose attention, by now, he had fully acquired.

"Were you serious when you told me you just wanted to talk tonight?" Leo had glanced at Scorpius who was sitting, on his bed.

Scorpius had nodded.

"Yea I think all this fighting, or whatever you want to call it, is getting tiring. Plus I've noticed that we keep up quite a few people when we raise our voices." he had indicated to the sleeping forms of the their fellow Slytherins.

Leo had laughed.

"Yea I'm getting pretty tired of it too. I'm also so over the way you treat Rose..."

"What do you mean by that?" Scorpius had asked.

"You never want to talk to her if the two of you are alone together, you tease her constantly and spread rumours about her. I keep telling you this every night but you're so busy ranting about her that you never hear me out. You literally give her hell and if you cared for her as much as you say you do, you wouldn't hurt her..." he had explained.

At this, Scorpius had sighed.

"I do care for her which is exactly why I can't help myself. I can't bear the fact that she'd choose you over me. No offense man..."

"Rose and I, for the final time, are not dating. Yea I used to care for her that way but I don't feel that way for her anymore. She's like a sister to me. I'm dating Claire for Merlin's sake! And I don't appreciate it when you spread rumours about Rose and I because it just hurts my chances with Claire." he had retorted.

Scorpius with his illogical thought process had waved this off.

"I always knew you were a user Leo. But to pretend that Claire's your girlfriend just so you can throw me off the scent is a pretty horrible move."

At that point Leo had given up. He had realised there was no way to convince Scorpius that Rose and him were not dating. Because Scorpius had obviously accepted this piece of information to be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

"Ok..." Rose glanced at Leo for a moment. "Then what happened? You just walked off or something?"

Leo shook his head. "Quite to the contrary."

"What did Scorpius say then?" Rose pressed.

Leo nodded. "I'm getting to that."

"So is there a point to this discussion?" Leo had asked Scorpius again.

Scorpius had nodded.

"Yea well I wanted to tell you that you've won."

"Won what?"

"Rose"

"Scorpius..."

"No, let me finish!"

"Ok."

"I've been doing a lot of thinking and I've realised that Rose will never feel the same way about me..."

"Scorpius if I were you I wouldn't assume that, Maybe you should talk to Rose about this."

"Can you zip it Zabini?"

"Fine."

"Like I was saying, I've come to the conclusion that even if you and Rose split, she'll never look at me as more than a friend. So I've decided it's time to move on."

"Move on!" Leo had spat. "No Scorpius you can't move on. You love her."

Scorpius had glared at him. "Thanks for reminding me."

"You can't just move on like that. You said she was important to you."

"She is. She's the world to me. Which is exactly why I need to let her go. You said so yourself that I should stop hurting her. So if this is what it takes to stop then so be it."

"You can't be serious! You can't honestly believe that this is going to solve anything do you? By forgetting her. Love isn't a light you can switch on and off."

At this point Scorpius had come dangerously close to punching Leo. He had grabbed him by his collar and their faces had been inches apart.

"Do not lecture me on love. Just because you got your girl, does not make you the expert on the subject. Stop rubbing salt in my wound!"

"I'm not trying to hurt you." Leo had choked. "I'm just trying to make you see sense of the truth. Don't you understand? Rose loves you!"

Rose had choked upon hearing this.

"You told him!" she cried incredulously.

"The guy was gonna kill me. Or he looked like he was going to!" Leo protested.

"What did he say?" Rose twiddled her thumbs.

"Called me a liar."

Rose rolled her eyes. Of course he would of called Leo a liar...

"So that's the horrible news then? That Scorpius is going to move on?"

Leo shook his head.

"Yes and no."

"It's got to do with who he wants to move on with..."

Rose sighed and glanced at her watch. They had reached her classroom and she had work to do. She did want to find out about what Scorpius wanted to do but she had bigger priorities. Besides, if Scorpius said that he was going to move on, then this would be good news for Rose. Perhaps this new girl he found, would distract him and they would regain their lost friendship. This might also indicate that his feelings for her were not as strong as they had previously appeared to be. Rose was thankful now that she had not revealed her emotions to him. She had also, naturally, felt a little upset about the prospect of Scorpius moving on. Did that mean his feelings for her were so fickle? For now, she refused to entertain such thoughts. She looked forward to talking to him again soon. Just as friends. But for now, she still had ancient runes in five minutes and she had not submitted her paper on the subject which was due today.

"I'd love to hear who this girl is going to be but I have work to do. Maybe you can tell me after class?" she said turning to the door.

"But Rose! You have to know, now!" Leo tried to stop her.

"We'll talk later Leo I..." but Rose's last words trailed off as she opened the door to the classroom and stared at the scene before her. Leo ran up to her and catching sight of the scene as well, he froze beside her.

"Oh no. Rose. I.. I tried to warn you." he apologized to her, placing his hand gently on her shoulder.

Rose could not hear Leo and her whole being felt numb. It was as her whole world was crashing around her. Like it had been shattered into pieces of glass. Her mouth had hit the stone hard cold floor of the dungeon classroom. Because there, in the middle on the classroom, stood the two people Rose had never expected to see with one another. He was holding her by the waist and she was gripping onto his hair. There they were, just standing there, oblivious to the rest of the world. Rose watched in stunned silence as Scorpius and Mel snogged one another passionately. Leo thankfully seemed a little more proactive than Rose and loudly, he cleared his throat. Looking up from one another and breaking apart, the pair hastily turned to face the intruders. Catching Rose's stunned expression, Mel smirked in satisfaction. Rose had to fight the violent urge to rush over to her and rake her nails down the side of her face. Mel had just been waiting for an opportunity to hurt her and Scorpius had handed it to her on a silver platter.

"Oh Rose dear!" Mel smiled pretending to look surprised. "I didn't realise we had company. Why do you look so shocked dear? Haven't you heard? Scorpius and I are Hogwarts' newest couple!"

Leo took a step forward, his eyes on fire.

"You horrid foul, evil..." He raised his wand but Rose stopped him.

"She's not worth it Leo." she whispered.

Loosening her grip on Leo's hand, who had relaxed slightly but was still tense, Rose's eyes flitted over to Scorpius who was just staring at her in plain shock. It seemed like he was frozen in time. His eyes were swimming in pain and there was something else, what was it? Regret?

Too late for that, Rose thought to herself. To her, what Scorpius had just done, was the ultimate betrayal to her. He knew what a horrible person Mel was. He kew what she had done to Rose and yet there he had been, snogging her! He was just using her, like how Christine was using Greg, against Rose. Scorpius was a user! It was her worst nightmare unfolding right before her eyes. Now that she thought about it, Scorpius had lied to Leo. He hadn't been trying to move on at all! He had just resolved himself to make one last desperate attempt to make Rose jealous. She could never forgive him for something like this. She didn't care how many good memories they had had together. This was it. This was the end of their friendship. If Scorpius could dare to use Mel against her, Merlin knew what else he was capable of. She should have stayed and listened to Leo... And now it was too late. Scorpius took a step towards Rose.

"Rose..." he murmured, seeming to break out of his trance like state. Leo's already tense for seemed about to explode from the tension.

But Rose cut him off, shaking her head. She was incapable of speaking to him. She couldn't and wouldn't. So she did the only thing she could do at a time like this.

She turned. And Ran.


	26. Arguments on the Pitch

Rose stood up rigidly and brought herself up to her full height. Gripping her beater bat and broom, her palms were sweating. Scorpius was taller than her but she would not give in. Everyone was watching the two of them, shocked, as they eyed each other, in silence. What would happen now? Neither of them said anything. Rose breathed deeply. She had had enough. Glaring at him for a final time, she spun on her heel and without as much as a whisper, stalked past her fellow Quidditch players, out of the locker room. Sarah attempted to grab her hand but she shoved past her. She paused for barely a moment as she glanced over at one of their chasers, a girl with dark brown hair and kind eyes who had been watching her intently all this while.

"I'm sorry again Angelina." she murmured and then she was gone. Angelina watched her go a little sadly. She had forgiven Rose the moment she had seen her face when they had lost the match. Rose had never wanted what had happened. It had been an accident.

"Weasley! Come back here now! You are yet to be dismissed!" Rose heard Scorpius' voice call out. It was filled with anger, contempt and frustration. Of course it was. After all, it was Scorpius addressing her. He acted so proud nowadays, just because he was Quidditch captain and the fact that they weren't friends anymore, did that mean he could boss her around? She was fed up with his leadership. So arrogant and cocky, just like he was in first year, like a child... She'd show him! She'd show all of them, Rose Weasley was not a caged animal that anyone could control. Not even Scorpius.

She drove his voice out of her head violently. She would not turn around. No matter what he said. Her pace quickened as her light footsteps echoed on the ground.

"Weasley!" she heard him call again and again. It was getting annoying. "I am your captain. Your Quidditch captain and I am ordering you to return to the locker room immediately! Failure to do so will result in disciplinary action!"

Rose wanted to shout that she didn't care at, Scorpius but she didn't have to. Barely a moment after Scorpius had shouted, she could hear Sarah's fading voice.

"Don't waste your breath. Rose won't come back Scorpius. You know her. Once she's angry, she loses all sense of reason..."

Of course Rose didn't appreciate the way Sarah had phrased her point but the bottom line was that no matter what, she was not going back to that locker room. After awhile, Scorpius' calls were no longer audible to her. As she got further and further away from the locker room, away from all the staring faces, away from the hurt and the pain, she felt an urgency build within her. She picked up her pace again, her brisk walk shifting to a small run. Still grabbing hold to her broom and bat, Rose could feel it. The emotion welling up. The tears that she had fought to hide back in the locker room were now flowing down her face. Her small run wasn't really small anymore. In fact now she was racing down the corridor, further and further down. She had to get away. Reaching the edge of the building, that led to the Slytherin tent on the edge of the Quidditch pitch, Rose ground to a halt. This tent was where all the Slytherin players waited for matches to start. Each house had their own tent on one of the four corners of the Quidditch pitch and behind those tents lay the house holding and locker rooms. Slowly she pushed aside the green and silver banners that decorated the flaps and made her way through the tent. Glancing around, she sighed. This was the place where Rose had spent so much of her time. From her first ever match briefing by Katie to where she had waited for the match to start this afternoon. But she would rather forget what had happened that afternoon.

Slowly, but without hesitation, Rose puled pack the flaps of the Slytherin tent and stepped out onto the school Quidditch pitch. It was drizzling. It had been about half an hour since the match had ended and there was hardly anyone left in the stands. The last few remaining people who had stayed behind to clear up the rubbish and stuff were now hurrying off, so as not to get caught in the rain. Rose didn't care though. She liked the rain. She began to walk, further and further onto the pitch. Glancing to her left, she saw the scoreboard, still hanging at the post. Rose winced as she read the score.

Hufflepuff-230

Slytherin-200

They blamed her. Her whole team. They blamed her for their loss. They had every reason to. Because it was true. It had been her fault that they had lost. But they didn't know the whole story. Rose did. And now thinking about it, Rose realised what a fool she had been to fall into the trap. The Hufflepuff beater had been banking on the trademark Weasley temper and she, Rose had certainly delivered. The game had started out fine. Scorpius had been off somewhere, Merlin knew where, following his bludger and Rose was chasing after another one. She had almost reached it when the Hufflepuff beater had come out of nowhere, almost knocking her off balance. As she had regained it, Rose had shot him a dirty look and had flown off. She hadn't realised that things were going to get a lot worse. About 15 minutes later, she had been flying around searching for the bludger when the same beater had called her name. Rose had turned to face him.

"What do you want?" she had called.

"Oh look at you, poor Rose Weasley!" he had sneered at her.

"I don't have time for mind games you git!"

"Of course you don't. All little Rosie wants, is to play Quidditch. But if I recall correctly, you don't play it very well. You always need someone to come help you out."

Rose had frowned at this. Who did he think he was, insulting her at her Quidditch skills? What did he know? As the Hufflepuff's blue eyes twinkled, Rose's had widened. It wasn't possible! But she recognised that twinkle anywhere. The shine in the eyes... It was the same Hufflepuff beater she had fought with on the pitch in her third year. The one who had tried to kill her with that bludger. Except this time, his female beater wasn't here with him! The female beater whose broom which had been smashed by a well aimed bludger, courtesy of Scorpius. So, what did this guy want? Revenge? Rose shuddered at the thought.

"Remember me now?" he asked, noting her recognition.

"What happened in the past shouldn't taint this game!" Rose warned.

"What fun would that be then?" he chuckled.

Un intentionally, the pair had begun, in mid air, to circle one another while on their brooms. Like cats.

"I'd love to see what Scorpius would do when I knock you off your broom. Maybe being the wimp of a captain that he is, he'll let you fall and break your spine! Or maybe when you hit the ground, because the sound will be so loud, your teammates will panic, thinking it's thunder and forfeit the game." he spat.

For Rose that was the last straw. Insult her? Fine. Insult her Quidditch skills? Fine. But to insult her captain and team? To insult their intelligence and courage? Definitely not fine!

Rose had seen red.

"You foul horrid disrespectful twerp!" she had shouted.

Sarah who had been zooming past on her broom with the quaffle had thrown her a concerned look but Rose had ignored her. Glancing around for a possible weapon to use on this git of a beater, Rose had spotted her bludger. Smiling to herself, Rose had flown towards it. She could recall how she had swung the bat, the strength she had used, the angle of her smack. The next thing she had known, the bludger had flown towards the Hufflepuff beater. He had been ready for her, of course. In no time at all, Rose had seen the bludger flying towards her. Taking another great swing at him, Rose had snarled in anger and frustration as it had missed him again. After several more whacks between them, Scorpius had noticed the drama from where he was, thanks to the match commentator's keen observation skills and had flown over to break up the fight. Rose remembered the furious expression on his face.

"Weasley stop it, this is childish!" he had shouted.

The Hufflepuff beater had snarled at this. "Ouch. Calls you Weasley not Rose? What happened to you guys?"

"Who is this clown?" Scorpius had asked.

"You smashed his friend's broom in third year. They were trying to knock me off mine and you smacked the bludger at her." Rose had shouted, having taken aim again.

Scorpius had taken a moment to process this.

"Hey!" he had called to the beater. "Knock it off jerk!"

"I don't think so! I'll stop when she does." he had called back.

"Stop!" Scorpius had barked at Rose. Rose, preoccupied with avoiding the bludger flying towards her had ignored him.

"STOP!"

Rose had glared at Scorpius in defiance and had taken one final swing with the bat. Just to prove her point. But that swing had caused more harm than she had imagined. The Hufflepuff beater had ducked just in time and the bludger had flown past him. Angelina, their own chaser had been in the direct line of fire. Rose had watched in horror and shock as Angelina's crumpled form had fallen from her broom. Scorpius had immediately sped of to catch her. But Rose still couldn't move. She had just hovered there in mid air as Scorpius had flown away. Luckily for Angelina, he had caught her just in time before she hit the ground, sparing her any injuries. Rose had sighed in relief but not before she had caught the eye of the Hufflepuff beater who had given her a satisfied smirk. In that moment, Rose had realised what a fool she had been. It had never been the beater's intention to hurt her. But rather, his goal had been for her to strike down one of her own and in consequence, to provide Hufflepuff an advantage to claim the match as their own. And claim it they did. Even though their seeker had caught the snitch, Angelina's absence had poked a major hole in the team's defense and as a result despite the points Slytherin had attained from the catching of the snitch, Hufflepuff had still emerged victorious.

Burying her head in her hands. Rose collapsed on the pitch in tears. This was her fault. She had ruined everything. She could still feel them, their accusing stares. As the whistle had blown, they had trudged back to the locker room in silence, with people pushing past her, annoyed. They had the right to be. All the way there, Rose had apologized over and over to Angelina, begging her forgiveness. She truly hadn't meant for anyone to get hurt. Angelina had taken her fall and their loss of the match a little better than Scorpius had and she had told Rose that she had forgiven her. At least that, Rose felt, had been a small comfort to her. Because it was Angelina's opinion that had mattered to her the most. As they had reached the locker room, Scorpius had wasted no time and had proceeded to publicly humiliate her.

"Selfish, immature, unthoughtful, un-sportsman like!" his words came flooding back to her.

Nobody had agreed with him. Nobody had spoken as he had told her off. But to Rose, she knew that they all secretly agreed with him. Perhaps even Sarah. So Rose had sat in silence as Scorpius had lectured her, as he had threatened her with disciplinary action as he had promised her that he would take the issue up with Madame Hooch. What else could she have done anyway? And finally once Scorpius had exhausted his anger, he had turned to the rest of the team. He had commended them that despite having the odds against them, they had played well. He reminded them to take Rose as an example, to never behave the way she had. That she was a bad example and that she should know better for someone of her age and experience. Rose had felt like a child in the locker room, being told off. Then he had turned his attention back to her again, his anger having been renewed and had proceeded to start ranting again. Rose had let him, intending to listen to him till he was done. But something he had shouted at her had changed her mind instantly.

"You think only about yourself Weasley! You have no loyalty to this team!" he had shouted.

That had been her breaking point. Rose had no loyalty? After she had defended them against that Hufflepuff beater. The only reason why she had fought with him was because he had insulted her team! And now to be told that she had no loyalty towards them? It crushed Rose. So she had stood up and she had left. And now she was here, in the rain, crying. It was a little pathetic, the way she was behaving, feeling sorry for herself. After all she wasn't exactly in the right. But then she had been hurt as well. A year ago, she couldn't have dared to imagine that Scorpius could shout at her the way he had minutes ago. She missed him. Scorpius. She missed their walks and talks. She missed his laugh. Now the only time he spoke to her was when he had comments on her Quidditch skills or when he was telling her off, like how he had been shelling the life of her just now. Her lost friendship with him was now just another complication in her life. One that Rose figured, would never go away. Scorpius and her had passed the point of no return months ago. It had been the day when Scorpius had called her "Weasley" not "Rose". Now he never called her by her first name anymore. Rose hated that. To her, he would always be Scorp. Why couldn't she be Rose to him?

Rose let out a wail as they rain began to get heavier. Her clothes and hair were completely soaked now. Her locks formed a dark auburn curtain over her face, covering her red and puffy eyes. She had lost everything. Right now, Rose just wanted to bury herself. What was the point when she had nothing left? She had lost her friends, the admiration and respect of her teammates was gone, probably her spot on the Quidditch team and her self respect. All gone. Just as Rose was about to plunge once more into her depressed thoughts, she heard Scorpius' voice.

"Hey Weasley!" he called running towards her.

Rose stared as he hurried towards her. Oh no, she thought to herself. The last thing she needed was another lecture from her captain.

"Go away!" she shouted. Standing up, she turned and ran away from him, taking her things with her, farther and farther towards the centre of the Quidditch pitch. A fog was building up there, as it usually did when it rained and Rose figured that she could hide in there.

"Wait!" she heard his voice again.

"Leave me alone!" she wailed, still running.

Reaching the centre of the pitch, she looked around. She couldn't see anyone partially because the rain and fog was obstructing her view. Wheeling around wildly, Rose searched for any signs of someone following her. Nothing, no movement. Rose relaxed and exhaled. Perhaps he had given up? But as soon as the thought passed through her mind, she saw a figure leap out of the fog and directly towards her. Screaming, Rose turned to run but Scorpius was too quick. He lunged for her knees and grabbed them, knocking her back to the ground. Rose struggled to get away but Scorpius held on to her, tightly. He didn't say anything. Rose tried to kick him but it was no use. He was still in his Quidditch gear and Rose could see that he was just as soaked as she was. Her broom lay several feet from her but her bat was a couple of inches from her hand. Clawing at the grass, Rose snatched her bat. Desperately she swung her bat at him. Scorpius snarled as he realised what she was doing and stopped the bat with his hand, the other one, on her knee, pinning her down.

"If you dare to swing your bat at your captain again, I will personally see to it that you never play Quidditch for the team again. Don't you think you've injured enough players Weasley!" he spat.

Rose made a high pitched cry. She didn't want to talk to him. She was crying and wailing now. She felt like a little lost girl in Diagon Alley. She wanted her mother. She wanted to be back at the Burrow, with her warm blankets, fluffy pillows and surrounded by her parents and away from all of this! Away from the cold, the rain and Scorpius. Scorpius seemed to ignore her pleas to let her go.

"As your captain I demand an explanation for you leaving the locker room without my permission!" he pressed.

Rose screamed in pain. Scorpius was perhaps accidentally, applying more pressure to her knee, bearing down on it. She thought it was going to snap in half with all the force. Like a tree twig. Was this his own form of torture? Could anyone hear her shrill cries for help?

"Tell me Weasley!" he shouted.

Rose gasped, her eyes blinking as the pain intensified.

"Stop calling me that!" she shouted.

For a second, Scorpius seemed taken off guard and he released the pressure on her leg. It was as if he hadn't realised he had been hurting her all this while, like he had been in a trance and his eyes seemed to flicker with recognition and fear. Seizing the opportunity, Rose shoved him with all the force she could muster and crawled to where her broom lay. Scorpius had fallen back on the ground. Rose could hear him muttering, almost to himself, "Sorry... lost control, sorry. I'm upset. Sorry. I'm so sorry..."

But Rose couldn't forgive him at the moment. Because right now she was preoccupied with the sharp pain in her leg. It felt like it was on fire. Slowly, she forced herself to stand up. Now Scorpius was the one on the ground and she had the height advantage. It felt good to be on top, physically for once.

"Stop calling you what?" Scorpius' tone was surprisingly different as he looked up at her.

"Weasley!" she managed to gasp out.

"Your name is Weasley..." he murmured.

"No!" she shouted. "My name is Rose! I'm ROSIE! Do you remember?"

Scorpius was just staring at her, gaping.

"I'm not just another teammate to you!" she wailed, beating her chest. "I'm Rose. Your friend." her voice was barely a whisper.

Scorpius blinked.

"Not anymore" he pointed out.

"Whose fault was that?" Rose spat.

This was it. This was the moment she had been waiting for. The pain in her leg had transferred itself to her heart. It was burning with anger and hatred. Adrenaline pumped through Rose. She had been longing to scream at him like this ever since she had caught him and Mel together. But she had never gotten the chance. She had wanted to tell him so many things and this was it! She wanted to tell him how betrayed she had felt, how hurt. To make him see what he had done. How he had ruined everything! Now was her chance. Seize it! She thought in her head. But somehow she couldn't... she couldn't question him. Because he was Scorpius. Her Scorpius who in her mind, was still the perfect idol she worshipped. She could not bear to delve into his flaws further that she already had, to uncover more unpleasantries. Scorpius, though had still not answered her question. Because he knew, in his heart that it was his fault. It was because of him that they were no longer friends... Slowly, with Rose's bat still in his hand, he stood up. Rose took several steps towards him. He took several towards her. Until their faces were inches apart. Rose stopped breathing for a moment.

"I made a mistake." he murmured. "I wanted to make you jealous."

"Well you got a lot more than you bargained for." she retorted.

"I'm sorry"

Rose blinked. The words seemed to have slipped out of his mouth. Scorpius' voice was choked with emotion. This had been unexpected. What had happened to shouting raving Scorpius? The madman who had ticked her off in the locker rooms? The merciless and ruthless captain who had nearly crushed her leg a mere minute ago. This was the Scorpius she knew. The one she had been searching for all this while. The gentle, loving and understanding Scorpius who cared for others and loved to make other people smile. This was her Scorpius.

"How could you do that to me?" she asked a little redundantly.

"I told you why. I broke up with Mel ages ago. It was just for over a month. I was silly. I didn't even like her... You were right when you said I used her. I just couldn't admit it."

"Why did you want to make me jealous?" Rose pressed even though she knew exactly why. She wanted to know, if he would tell her the truth. If he could admit everything now to her.

Scorpius looked away.

"I... don't know."

Rose sighed and broke eye contact with him. He wasn't going to admit it. She realised. No, he was Scorpius. He was too proud. Too self-absorbed to care about her. His feelings for her had been a passing phase for him, she despaired. She had just been a phase... Nothing special. Just plain old Rose. In fact right now, she couldn't believe she was having a conversation with him. After months of avoiding one another! They were chatting as if they were in fourth year again. Like nothing had changed between them. Burying their heads in the sand, as usual. Despite it all though, it felt good talking to him again.

"What happened to us Scorp?" Rose asked him.

He shrugged his shoulders.

"We did and said stupid things. We got angry..." he trailed off glancing at her knee.

Rose shook her head, noticing his gaze. The pain below had died down. "It's fine. Really."

Scorpius folded his arms and shook his head frustration. "It's not fine. Just because I have authority over you, doesn't mean that I have the right to hurt you. I'm sorry about that. I really am, I didn't want you to get hurt. But I do think you walking off like that was pretty disrespectful. You have to admit, you acted like a kid playing Quidditch for the first time out there... Rose."

Thinking about what he had done, how he had nearly crushed her leg, Scorpius had felt like a jerk. Because in that moment as he had bored down on her, Scorpius had been releasing not only his tension regarding the match but his anger at losing her, as a friend. It had been wrong for him to lose control of his emotions. And to take it out on her, it had been criminal. Having promised himself that he wouldn't hurt her, Scorpius was a bad keeper of promises. But still, he had not been able to fathom why Rose had acted the way she had on the pitch. She was usually so focused on the match. But since Rose had made no attempt to offer an explanation for her behaviour, he had decided not to push it, considering the circumstances.

Rose's heart leapt as she heard him say her name again after so long but she would not let it show.

"Apology accepted. But I will not apologise for walking out like that."

"Why not? I think it's only fair. We'll call it even then?"

"No I don't think so. Because unlike you, I can justify my actions. And what I did just now can't even be compared to what you did to hurt me, got it?"

The rain was lightening up and looking at Rose as the fog cleared, Scorpius could get a good view of her face now. The sun was shining on her face and her hair glistened with the fresh raindrops. Her tears were so painfully visible now and he had no greater urge than to wipe them from her beautiful face. But her controlled himself. Besides looking at her now, he knew he was not going to get an apology from her. She was right. How could he even think that her rudeness was equivalent to him dating Mel? The reason why he had done it, still escaped him. Mel had always, annoyed him. He had always believed her to be a selfish and materialistic individual. The fact that he had tried to use her against Rose was very horrible. And of course their relationship hadn't lasted long. Barely over a month in fact. Because they had had nothing in common, whatsoever. It had been the end of torture for Scorpius when they had split. Because by then, he knew, he had lost Rose. Now reflecting upon it, Scorpius felt like a fool for behaving the way he had, so irrationally. Despite his horrible behavior to her, Rose had put up with it for so long until of course Mel had come into the picture. If anything, he should have been the one, falling at her feet begging for forgiveness. But Rose, he knew, would never take him back as her friend after this. They would never regain what they had lost. It was such a shame. But he might as well end their interaction cordially.

"Your bat" he murmured, offering it to Rose.

Rose stared at him for a long time. Scorpius froze as he felt her breath on his chin, her dark brown eyes boring into his metallic grey ones. She seemed to be thinking about something.

"Keep it." she whispered after a pause.

Scorpius frowned. "Why?"

"I think since all these complaints are going to be filed against me for unruly behaviour on the pitch, I might as well spare all of you the trouble and quit the team. Time to get some fresh talent." she finished.

"What!" Scorpius' eyes widened. Rose quitting the team! She loved Quidditch. She was only doing this because she thought she was going to get kicked off the team and she wanted to exit with her pride intact! And even though she hadn't played well today, when she was in her top form, opposing teams' beaters never stood a chance against her. They couldn't lose her! Everyone in the team looked up to her, they turned to her when they could not turn to him for guidance. But what frightened him most of all was the fact that he would lose her. If she quit the team, she would no longer be a part of Scorpius' life. Since they weren't friends anymore, Quidditch was the only time, he got to see Rose. And now he was about to lose that too?

"Rose." he tried to stop her and grabbed her arm "If you're quitting because of what I said, you being disloyal and all that crap, I didn't mean it. I was just bummed that we lost. You're a great team player and the others look up to you. Don't just quit like this. Think about it. " he encouraged her.

Rose stared at him and then at his hand on her arm and shook her head smiling.

"Why look to me when they can look to you Scorp? You're a great leader, you'll find someone else." she reassured him.

Scorpius felt himself drowning in the chocolate brown of her eyes. Her mind had been made up. He could not change it, no matter what he said, just like how he hadn't been able to call her back to the locker rooms.

"I need you" he begged. "I know I don't say it aloud often enough but I do appreciate you. There's nobody I'd rather play beater position with. We trust each other remember?" he quoted Rose.

"Not any more..." she reminded him smugly. "I said that when we were still friends."

Scorpius' heart felt ready to burst with pain and frustration. Every time she said something to that effect, every time she mentioned their lost friendship, Scorpius was reminded with a pang, just how much he had screwed up with Rose...

"I'm sorry. I have to do this." Rose gently pushed his hand away. He let her. She stroked his cheek with her right hand, fresh tears coming down the side of her face.

"No you don't" he whispered.

"I..." Rose's voice cracked as she looked away, the tears dripping off her nose.

Scorpius reached out and overcoming his fears, he began to wipe the tears from her face. He wanted them to stay like this, just him and her together. Rose let him for a moment but the next instant she seemed to come to her senses and pulled away hurriedly.

"Bye Scorp" she muttered and she turned to leave.

Watching her go, her beautiful form outlined by the bright rays of the sun that had emerged suddenly out of nowhere from behind the rainclouds, Scorpius felt a hole in his heart.

What had he done?


	27. Breakfast News

Scorpius walked through the Great Hall. It was breakfast and he had intended to grab a snack before heading to class. He wasn't exactly in a hungry mood today especially after what had happened with Rose on the pitch the day before. Now he had the sudden urge to forget they had ever fought. To forget their differences and reconcile. All he wanted now, was to be able to talk with her again. Because that was what he had done the day before and it had felt amazing. It sounded cliche but to Scorpius it was the only truth. He had forgotten just how amazing Rose made him feel. Trying to push thoughts about Rose out of his mind, Scorpius tried to focus on finding a seat at the already crowded Slytherin table. He nodded politely as he passed the first and second years and as he reached the mid section of the table, glanced about to search for any of his dorm mates. Leo had been gone by the time Scorpius was awake. Perhaps he could sit with him.

Since Rose had begun to ignore him, Scorpius' fighting with Leo had ceased. What was the point to it? Because somehow it had become painfully obvious to Scorpius only after he started dating Mel, that there had been nothing between Leo and Rose. At all. He had just been so blinded by jealousy that despite all of Leo's pleas, he had never come to his senses. Leo, hadn't quite taken Scorpius' actions to heart as Rose had. Sure he had been disappointed and upset about them but when he had walked in on Scorpius and Mel with Rose, he had known what to expect. Scorpius had, after all, told him about his planned actions the night before. So much to his Scorpius' relief, Leo had decided that they would upkeep their, well Scorpius didn't quite no whether they were friends... upkeep their relationship with one another and they had remained cordial. This was good because at least Scorpius felt that he still had one of his old companions talking to him. Even though he had strongly suspected that one of the main reasons Leo still talked to him was because he felt sorry for him, since he was so pathetically desperate, he didn't care. He would have done the same thing if he had been in Leo's shoes and he desperately wanted to be in Leo's shoes. At least Leo was still talking to Rose...

Scorpius walked straight past Mel and Anne who were sitting and eating in silence. He pretended not to notice them. Now that their relationship had ended, things between him and Mel had gone back to where they had been in their fourth year. I.e: Mel tried chatting to Scorpius while he ignored her. It wasn't as he was the only bad guy here. She had been equally at fault. Because just like him, Mel it seemed, had had alternative motives when they had initiated the relationship. Towards the end of it all, Scorpius had felt bad, the guilt had just about suffocated him. It had crashed on him, every time Rose shot him a look, reminding him of his dishonesty. Finally he had decided to come clean, when he realised their relationship would never work out. He had admitted to her, Mel. He had admitted to her his initial motives. He admitted that he did not care for her in that way, that he didn't really care for her at all as a matter of fact. That perhaps she should spare him further guilt and break it off with him. Scorpius had expected either an emotional or an aggressive response from Mel. After all, he had probably hurt her pride as well as her feelings. But Mel's reaction had stunned him. Stunned, was an understatement.

She had laughed. Imagine Scorpius, having poured out his thoughts to her, standing there, watching her laugh. She had the most annoying laugh, he realised. It wasn't like Rose's. Rose's laugh was a light delicate one. Like a gentle wind blowing. Occasionally yes, Rose would chortle but Scorpius found that rather cute. Mel's laugh wasn't quite as entertaining. It was deep and rumbling, sometimes she snorted. It was all rather grotesque. So he had stood, waiting a good minute till she had managed to calm herself down. Well enough so that they could hold a conversation. Finally when Mel had managed to contain herself, she had told Scorpius the truth, her true motives. As Rose had suspected, Mel had merely been using Scorpius to get back at her hated enemy, to strike down her defenses. He had been the tool of hurt. She had used him, just as much as he had used her. She laughed at him, joking and insulting him, asking if he was so clueless that he had no idea. In fact, she told him that she thought he knew her real intentions and had gone ahead with their relationship with full knowledge of the fact. Of course she did want to be with him yes, who wouldn't? Obviously Rose, Scorpius had thought at the time. But that hadn't been her primary goal.

As Scorpius had listened to her, he felt like he was a six year old learning that you couldn't fly upside down on a broom. He felt ridiculous. How he had not seen through Mel, he had no idea. Perhaps he had been too focused on trying to hurt Rose. So focused that he hadn't realised that the tool he had used to hurt her, had used him as a tool as well. Only then did he realise that Rose had received not one, but two blows, from two different people. No wonder she could no longer stand to be around him! He had successfully helped her lifelong enemy strike a blow at her! Once this realization had belatedly dawned on Scorpius, he had inwardly cursed himself and Mel. They both deserved to rot in Azkaban. So when Mel had finished her little confession, Scorpius had thrown her his most scathing glare in the history of all his scathing glares and he had stalked away. He had avoided her ever since. Though he had never spoken the words to her, both of them knew, clear as day, their relationship was over.

Mel had tried on numerous occasions, unsuccessfully to mend things between them. Because in spite of everything, Mel wanted to be with Scorpius. She really did. Not for him, not because she enjoyed his company or his smile, his mannerisms but for the title. The school's power couple. That was what they had been dubbed. In the name of Merlin, Scorpius swore he did not know why. There was nothing particularly special about them as a couple. Yes Mel was attractive and he was popular but so were many of the couples in Hogwarts. While Scorpius had loathed the title, all the stares and the thumbs up from random passers-by throughout the school, Mel had revelled in it. Their breakup had led to the breakdown of her newfound popularity. All the attention had been like a drug to her and she had been suffering from withdrawal symptoms. So she had begged him, insisting she thought he knew. That she would never intentionally hurt him. But she also accused him, saying that he had had other motives when they had been together, that she was not the only one at fault.

Scorpius knew, that Mel was right. It was a fact, that he was just as guilty as she was. They had both used one another. But he wasn't particularly angry at Mel specifically. He was angry at himself. Angry that he had allowed her to use him in the way that she had, angry that he had been blind to the situation, that he had not seen how Mel would benefit, that he had not read enough into her words. Every time he saw her, Scorpius was reminded, rather painfully, of his own folly. It was one of the reasons why he was desperate to avoid her. Mel and everything associated with her had brought him too much pain and he couldn't take it. This time, he would definitely not allow her to use him again. No matter what the outcome would be. So he had kept away, far away from her, preferring to hang with Leo. After awhile, Mel had gotten the hint and had left him in peace. Nowadays, she no longer persisted in following him around, she no longer bothered saying hi to him as he came to class or entered the common room. In fact she pretended like he was invisible. Her hopes that she would ever regain her all too important status were gone. And so she had given up and had settled into her usual routine. In short, life had gone on.

So with thoughts of Mel and his foolishness still burning in his head, Scorpius sighed and moved on. Passing by Greg who was sitting alone by himself, no doubt Christine and he had had another fight, he hesitated. Should he sit with him? By default since Sarah and Greg had ended things, Scorpius had tried to keep away from him. It wasn't because he didn't like Greg. He was a good guy buddy but Scorpius could not overlook what he had done to Sarah. Sarah over time, had become more than just Rose's best pal to him. She was his chum too and he was angered to see her so hurt by someone who had used and exploited her. So he had turned the cold shoulder to Greg, waiting until things between Sarah and him had cooled. Somehow, the tension had never diffused, understandably, Greg had never rejoined their group, sticking with Christine. So Scorpius had simply stopped talking to him. Well not completely, since they shared a dorm, saying good morning was pretty much inevitable. But they never made more than polite conversation.

Rose and Sarah had always been a little less sympathetic towards Greg as compared to Scorpius. They avoided him fiercely like the plague. At first Sarah had attempted to put up a good show for everyone but as Greg and Christine's relationship had developed and their displays of affection had become more and more public, she had finally caved in and had joined the "Hate Greg Goyle fan club". Scorpius had never asked but strongly suspected that the fan club had at least 100 members. People, once they had heard what had happened from Sarah and Rose, had become furiously angry at Greg, they had thrown him numerous looks and some had made their opinions clear, through hate mail and howlers, sent up to their Slytherin dorm. The howlers in particular, were pretty bas... Sarah, was a very well liked person. Everyone got on with her, well except for Mel and of course, having hurt Sarah, Greg had the full force of her loyal supporters weighing down on him. Scorpius honestly felt that Greg should have seen it coming. So now he was an outcast, a loner in his own house. His only pals were the sympathetic Ravenclaw friends of Christine. If Scorpius sat with him during breakfast, it might not do him any favours in trying to win Rose's favour back. Bad idea, he decided.

Pursing his lips in sympathy whether for Greg or for himself, that was unclear as he walked on. He was seriously running out of options.

"Scorpius!"

Hearing his name, Scorpius turned around, relieved. Finally, respite.

Seeing Sarah waving him over, he hesitated slightly. She was alone, Leo was nowhere in sight. Neither was Rose. That was odd. Perhaps she had slept in, Scorpius reasoned. He wouldn't mind having breakfast with her. Scorpius had to hand it to Rose. Even though they had fallen out, Rose never held it against him. Amazingly. Despite everything that had passed between them, Rose had made Sarah promise her, in front of Scorpius, that she would not hold anything against Scorpius. That Scorpius, was just as much Sarah's friend as he was Rose's and that their friendship should not be compromised just because Scorpius and Rose had fought. She repeated this procedure with Leo. Scorpius had felt an enormous amount of respect for her then and there. He would never have been able to do what she had done. Rose's actions, to him, had demonstrated an enormous amount of maturity and people centeredness. To her, it didn't matter that they weren't talking, Scorpius was still a person with feelings and it wouldn't be fair if he was excluded from their group. It was, selfless. It was admirable, commendable and it made Scorpius feel horrible.

Even thinking about now, he felt incredibly guilty. For some unknown reason. Whenever Rose was nice to him, even back when they had been in first year and when he had been mean to her, he always ended up feeling bad about it. Smiling now towards Sarah, he headed over to her. She had not broken her promise to Rose. Scorpius and her still got on well with one another. It was a little awkward when Rose was there at times but still, Scorpius knew she was there for him. This should be fun...

"Hey" he breathed sitting down opposite her. "Where's Albus?"

Sarah rolled her eyes a little playfully.

"Probably sleeping last night off I suppose."

Scorpius raised his eyebrow a little inquisitively but Sarah shook her head, refusing to give him the details.

"You're mean..." he whined.

Sarah laughed.

"Is Rose coming down?" he asked a little hesitantly.

Sarah glanced around and sighed.

"Not feeling too well. I expect she ran out in the rain yesterday after the whole Quidditch drama. I got your point Scorp you were a bit mean to her..." she trailed off.

Scorpius winced at how he had shouted at Rose.

Sarah grabbed his hand from across the table and squeezed it, "But you had to do it. Gotta put the team in their place right?"

Scorpius nodded. At least Sarah understood why he had to tell Rose off. It wasn't because he wanted to but if he didn't, the team would think he was going soft on her...

"Anyway" Sarah continued, "Said she would join me for breakfast. No luck yet, obviously."

Scorpius' mind hurried to the day before, Rose and him in the rain on the pitch together, the tears streaming down her face. The memory scared him.

He shook himself from his thoughts and began to help himself to breakfast.

Sarah watched him a little curiously.

"Don't suppose you've seen Leo round have you?" she asked.

Scorpius shook his head.

She smiled a little. "Maybe he's with Claire?"

Scorpius choked on his toast. Leo never struck him as they guy who would hang out with his girlfriend in secluded corners of the school.

"Is it that serious?" he asked.

Sarah smirked.

"You're the one who bunks with him right?"

"Yea but I don't really like talking to him about..."

"Point taken"

"Yup"

"It's supposed to be. I don't think its quite official yet. I mean people like us know about it but I don't think everyone else does. Claire's pretty shy you know?"

"Yea I do know. But I'm happy for him. She's a nice girl."

"She is. Very affectionate and caring. Her sister is too. If only Anne would find a boyfriend, then both of them can break away from Mel and her tyrannous ways..."

Scorpius laughed at this statement. "I think the problem is that Anne looked to Claire for guidance and now that she's no longer there with her, she's a little lost."

"Let's hope she doesn't stay that way." Sarah added seriously.

Scorpius nodded. Everyone sort of felt sorry for the twins. Less so for Claire because she had always been the more opinionated and individualistic one with independence, hence, she now had a boyfriend and didn't hang with Mel anymore. But Anne was the follower, the soft-spoken one. She didn't know any better and believed Mel to be her one true friend. Especially now that her sister had her "own life" going on with Leo. But the fact was that there were plenty of people willing to be Anne's pals but they stayed away because of Mel. The day Anne broke away from Mel would be the day she would gain her own independence, Scorpius reflected. Sarah suddenly broke his train of thought.

"There she is!" she called waving over to someone. "Rose!"

Scorpius wheeled around alarmed as they watched Rose approach them. She looked tired. That was the main thing. Her hair was swept into a neat little ponytail and her face had been face but there were large, unmistakable bags under her eyes. her eyes themselves were a little swollen and puffy. She carried her rucksack over her shoulder and clutched a handkerchief in her hand. As she reached them, she sneezed. Her nose was red. Bright red. She looked like the character from a muggle Christmas story Scorpius had heard about: Rudolph the red nosed reindeer.

Plonking herself down beside Sarah, she glanced cautiously across the table at Scorpius.

"He didn't have a place to sit." Sarah explained hastily.

Rose said nothing but nodded and rubbed her nose.

"Not well?" Scorpius asked.

Rose shot him a look as if to say, "Gee, you think?"

Scorpius instantly fell silent.

Sarah and Scorpius looked a little nervous as Rose began to pile her plate.

"You sure you can make class today Rosie?" Sarah asked her.

Rose nodded, "I'll be fine". Her voice was hoarse.

"You probably should have stayed out of the rain yesterday." Scorpius croaked.

Rose, who had been making the small attempt to eat her food threw down her cutlery and glared at him.

"Maybe I wouldn't have been in the rain if you hadn't yelled at me!" she hissed.

Scorpius was taken aback. After their talk yesterday, he had expected a calmer and more cordial response from her. Apparently not...

Sarah placed her hand on Rose's shoulder.

"We talked about it Rosie, Scorpius had to tell you off. After all you started a fight in the middle of a Quidditch match. You knocked Angelina off her broom!" she reminded her.

Scorpius saw Rose wince at the mention of Angelina. He knew she felt bad about that.

"He didn't have to shout so loudly..." she muttered, glancing at him.

Scorpius sighed. "I shout that loudly at everyone Rose and you know it. Come on Sarah you're on the team, you've seen me scold other people?"

Sarah came to his aid. "It's true Rose." she soothed.

Rose glared at them for a moment and then her face went blank. She was thinking.

"He started it." she murmured.

"I know." Scorpius comforted her. "But as the good player that you are, you should have demonstrated more self restraint"

"How could I?" she wailed a little.

"Deep breathing?" Sarah raised her arms in exasperation.

"No," Rose shook her head. "As in how could I stay calm when he was saying those things?"

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Just because someone insults your hair or your skills does not mean..."

"Aaargh!" Rose tugged her hair. "You guys don't get it. That's why I get so darn angry at you lot!" she cried.

"Then explain it to us!" Scorpius retorted.

"You" Rose's voice was barely audible as she pointed viciously at Scorpius.

Scorpius and Sarah leaned forward a little to catch her words. Sarah looked utterly bewildered. Just as confused as Scorpius. Obviously, Rose had not told her the real cause for her anger, the reason why they had fought. As they were conducting this argument they were having now, it didn't even seem real. It just sounded like they were hissing at one another across the table. That's how soft it was.

"I was defending you" she whispered.

"I don't understand..." Scorpius shook his head.

"I was defending all of you." she indicated to Sarah as well.

Scorpius glanced at Sarah who shook her head in confusion. She was gripping Rose's hand tightly and Scorpius ran a hand through his hair. Rose always made sense when she talked, always. No matter what she said, somehow her words always seemed logical. Not this time though. This would have to be the one time where Rose made absolutely no sense at all. It was as if she was speaking but Scorpius couldn't hear what she was saying. Or couldn't comprehend it. His mind was spinning, wheeling, trying to interpret her coded messages.

"The beater" she shook her head. "He insulted the team. The team! Not me. I didn't care that he insulted me. He could insult me all he wanted and I wouldn't care. But he insulted, the team! He... he called you weak Scorp. You're a lot of things but you're not weak. You're not a bad captain. He called you a wimp. He called the team pathetic! Yes, that includes you Sarah! I had to do something. I couldn't just let him..." she trailed off. Scorpius could suddenly see the fresh tears streaming down her face. Watching her, his heart broke as he processed what she was saying. As he realised what she had done.

"Rose" he whimpered and tried to reach across the table for her hand. "I didn't know...I"

Rose pulled away from him, gently and moved Sarah's hand off as well.

Sarah stared at her and then at Scorpius and back at Rose again. She seemed frozen. She seemed, shocked.

"You weren't fighting for you. For us." she murmured to her best friend.

Rose nodded for a moment and then quickly brushed away her stray tears, as if in embarrassment.

"I...should get going." she muttered and stood to leave.

Scorpius stood with her. "Rose! I'm so sorry"

Rose shook her head and gave him a weak smile.

"You don't have to explain anything." she replied.

Then she turned and quickly fled the Hall with her things, without a sound. She didn't even say goodbye. It had happened so quickly that nobody could quite understand what had taken place. Nobody at the table, except Sarah and Scorpius noticed her leave as her light feet scuttled off. She had been that quiet, that ghost like. Scorpius just stood there staring after her. There was an awkward silence that had settled around them. Scorpius felt nothing, absolutely nothing. Realization seemed to be dawning on him. Rose right until now was as selfless as ever. She had been provoked and had fought only for her team, for others. It was never about her. He should have seen it. He should have known there was a good reason for what she had done. But he hadn't even asked her. He had just assumed. As usual.

"I should follow her." Sarah's voiced sounded pained and cracked. Scorpius knew she felt just as guilty as he did. After all, she had assumed that Rose had simply lost her temper, that she had been personally insulted. But that had obviously not been the case.

Scorpius, numb, watched her get up to go. Her movements were hurried and flustered. As she readied herself, Sarah turned to face him again.

"You should come too." she emphasised her words, her light blue eyes piercing him. Rose needed him, even if she didn't admit that she did. He would always be her friend, deep down and she needed him now. He should be with her. All of those thoughts were conveyed to Scorpius through that one, single look. He knew she was right.

He stood for a moment, thinking it over and finally, he nodded.

"Yea... Yea I should"


	28. Scorpius and Rose

Rose was by the Lake. It was a lovely day for Quidditch. The sky was clear but the Sun wasn't blazing down on them either. It was the perfect balance. There was a cool breeze and it ruffled her hair, dancing on the surface of the Lake, creating ripples on the water. Watching as the wind blew through the grass that swayed in response, Rose sighed. Sometimes she wished she could be the wind. Not knowing where she was going, meeting so many people and things as she went, never set on a fixed destination. She liked the idea of being free and easy, like the wind. She could hear the echoing cheers and the noise of the crowd from the faraway Quidditch pitch. Everyone was anticipating this match. They had been for weeks. The cries of excitement had been ringing through Hogwarts the whole afternoon. After all today's match was the clash of the giants, Quidditch champions, Slytherin vs. Griffindor. So naturally, everyone would be watching. Literally everyone. The whole school seemed to be turning out for the event. Rose wasn't nervous exactly. She felt pumped up, her body filled with adrenaline. She had come to the Lake just to clear her mind, to ask for patience, not to lose her temper. That was important. She didn't know who she was asking all of this from, she wasn't addressing anyone in particular but somehow the Lake provided that vast emptiness, the wide span of space, physically and mentally that made her feel at ease, especially at times like this. It was her place of solace.

Glancing at her watch now, Rose saw that she still had 45 minutes till the match started. She had time. Scorpius only expected them to be there 30 minutes prior. In all honesty, Rose hadn't anticipated that she would be playing today. After all, she had quit the team right after the Hufflepuff match. Not quite as elegantly as she had hoped she would have but still, she had quit. Rose had expected to see her replacement on the field today, playing beside Scorpius, knocking away rogue bludgers and keeping out of fights just like good beaters ought to be. Rose wondered, if they had found a replacement for her, who they would have picked. It would have probably been Lucy, the 4th year. She had tried for beater this year but obviously, had not been given the position. Rose remembered her distinctly because she had been next to her in the tryouts. She had been, to say the least, intimidating. Rose had to admit that she was good, very agile, fast, quick-thinking, sharp and attentive too. All the good traits of a skilled beater. On top of that, Rose had remembered well, Scorpius commenting that Lucy would probably be his reserve beater if Rose were to be taken ill. So Lucy had made an impression too. But things work out in strange ways. Because Lucy would not be playing today. Rose would be, with Scorpius right by her side, just as things should be.

But the big question was, why was Rose playing today? Well because after Scorpius had found out why she had fought with the Hufflepuff beater, he had taken things into his own hands. Rose, hadn't meant to let Scorpius know, she didn't want to get anyone in further trouble but somehow, she hadn't been able to contain it. It had just slipped out. Scorpius and Sarah had followed her after a little breakdown in the Great Hall. They had apologised and had begged for her understanding. They didn't have to. Rose had never really put any of the blame on them. Scorpius in particular, had been very apologetic, understandably, he had shouted at her in front of the whole Quidditch team for Merlin's sake, from then on going out of his way, trying to make her understand that he had truly repented his actions. His small little gestures such as collecting her homework for her, or holding the door open as she walked through, were touching even though it was awkward at first since they were no longer friends. Eventually though, she came to enjoy him hovering around, it was funny. It reminded her constantly of their fond memories together. Plus having someone at her whim and fancy was also rather convenient.

And so, Rose and Scorpius, after having exchanged several looks, smiles and handshakes and many more, words of sincerest apology, had finally buried the hatchet and had reconciled. It was, as Leo put it, a complete miracle. Because they had made up so quickly. Almost, too quickly. Nobody, not even Sarah, had seen it coming. One day they had simply shown up to lunch together, linking arms and had announced the news to everyone. While the news had been met by Leo and Sarah with enthusiasm and a certain degree of relief , Rose and Scorpius not talking was almost like the Sun not setting in the evening, it was also met with concern and skepticism. Because there had never actually been any form of closure between the pair. Somehow as they had made up, Rose and Scorpius has skipped over several very important topics. Such as why Scorpius started dating Mel, why he had been jealous of Rose and Leo and why Rose had simply stopped speaking with him after she had walked in on him and Mel. It was clear to everyone except the couple in question that they could never really regain their old friendship if they did not address those issues.

So naturally, Rose had preferred not to focus on the issues Scorpius and her had faced but had taken their reconciliation as a positive step, the beginning of something completely different. She had decided not to base any of their new interactions on the ones they had shared in the past. Because even Rose had to concede to one fact, things would never really be the same between them. But, her new attitude was still holding strong: What was done was done and there was no need to speak to Scorpius regarding what had passed between them. A typical Rose Weasley system of thinking. Burying her head in the sand. Again. But to Rose that wasn't the point. The point was that now, she could once again call Scorpius as her friend, something she had been inkling to do for the past year. In all honestly, Rose had forgiven Scorpius regarding the entire Mel saga several months after the incident. Somehow a life without him in it had proved to be more difficult than she had previously hypothesised. But she had simply been too scared to approach him. To admit that she actually wanted to make up. Especially since she had been the one who had ended things. And after awhile Scorpius had given up trying to apologise and Rose had reluctantly, left their relationship at that. Now that she had him close to her once again, she wasn't going to let him go.

It felt so great to be his friend again, Rose reflected. Like she had been missing a protective barrier and now that Scorpius was back, she felt at ease again. Plus he just brought cheer into her day. Popping out of nowhere, joining her on the way to class or jumping out from behind a bookcase in the Slytherin common room. He was always ready for a laugh and he seemed to have acquired some new material for jokes during the past year. This was a relief for Rose in particular since he had been reusing the same jokes during all their years of friendship. Hearing a new one for a change, was like a breath of fresh air. And they were funnier. Old jokes got drabby after awhile. Being his lab partner again was as entertaining as ever but since Rose was there, this meant that Scorpius made less frequent visits to Madame Pomfrey, who was eternally grateful to Rose for that. It was more fun playing beater alongside side him again, especially now that they had an open communication channel, Rose had no idea how they had managed to play with one another for the past year. The looked out for one another and practice sessions were especially exciting and laugh worthy because Scorpius now went the extra mile to make her smile. This was something that caused quite a stir amongst the other Slytherin players. Eventually everyone managed to come to the accurate and logical conclusion that they were friends again. Well it was pretty obvious since the pair once again spent almost all their time with one another. As compared to when they were fighting and they avoided one another at every turn. What Rose and Scorpius didn't know though was that everyone was now waiting for them to get together. As a couple. People were placing bets! It was only a matter of time, they chimed. Sarah of all people, had bet that they would be together by the end of the year. Leo predicted 2 months. Mel, bet that they wouldn't get together at all.

Glancing out over the water, Rose sighed. Scorpius... There were so many things that she wanted to tell him. That she needed for him to know. But she couldn't. She had lost his friendship once over an incident like this and she wasn't going to risk things a second time. It would be too painful. Besides, it was too soon after their reconciliation to bring on something like this. But she was getting desperate. She had been meaning to tell him for ages, ever since Leo had finally convinced her to, a year ago on the train. A year... it seemed so far away, so distant in her memory. She had been resolved to admit it but had never gotten round to it. But she did want to get round to it. With all her heart. Rose loved him. Yes, she had finally admitted it to herself. Quite a while ago but never to the person in question, obviously. She was in love with Scorpius. But perhaps he was not in love with her anymore? After all, boys at that age could be indecisive. Perhaps during their year apart his feelings had waned? Perhaps he had found someone else? Someone she had not heard of... He might have kept this someone from her so as to not hurt her further. The possibilities were endless and the risks were simply too high. Rose had never really been much of a gambler and this time, she had decided not to play her cards. Perhaps, she had reasoned to herself that things were meant to stay this way. That Scorpius and her were never destined to be anything more than friends. Perhaps their fates were already drawn out before them and it was simply not meant to be?

It was so frustrating! For Rose now that she could be sure of her feelings, she felt like she had realised them too late. That she had let him slip through her fingers when she had had him. She had missed her chance. She probably wouldn't get another. Shaking her head vigorously, Rose dismissed the depressing thoughts. That was no way to think right before a match. Especially an important match. It would put her in a foul mood. Ah Quidditch, her life saver. It really was the perfect outlet for her. But really, Scorpius had been the lifesaver for getting her back on the team. He had gone straight to Madame Hooch, after comforting Rose and apologising countless times and of course, had filed a complaint, against the Hufflepuff beater. His reason: Rose's behaviour on the pitch had been provoked and it had not been voluntary. The beater had insulted her house's honour and had taunted her teammates. Rose was displaying a different type of sportsmanship, for her teammates by engaging with him. Scorpius had also requested that Rose be allowed to play in the next match. That she should not be suspended because her actions were a form of self defense.

He had, rather cleverly held back the information that Rose herself had quit the team. Because if he had told Madame Hooch that, she definitely would not have allowed Rose to play and would have said that Rose herself was unwilling to participate and that she could not force anyone to do something against their will. But Scorpius had not relayed that to her and so after much pacing, thinking and reconsidering, Madame Hooch had granted Rose the right to play in the match but warned that she would be under very close inspection. One more tantrum or disruption of the game and she would be permanently expelled from the team. Rose had no problem whatsoever with the conditions. At first she had been a little dismayed to hear that she was going to play, after all she felt she wasn't a very good role model to the younger players but after Scorpius informed her that the Hufflepuff beater would be receiving detention and temporary suspension from the team for his actions, she took to the prospect very quickly. So here she was, on match day, still trying to clear her head. She was excited to play, no doubt about that. Playing against her three cousins and watching Sarah play against Albus would be entertaining for sure. But she was just preoccupied with so many other things. Especially with thoughts regarding Scorpius. She would tell him. Rose breathed deeply and she furrowed her brows at the thought. The thought of actually admitting everything to him. Everything. After the match. She didn't care. She had to. This had to end now. It would keep going on if she didn't and Rose was tired. Very tired.

"I have to tell him." she murmured.

"Tell who what?"

Rose whirled around in astonishment and saw Scorpius standing right behind her. It was a little unnerving. He was in his Quidditch uniform and was gripping his broom in his left hand. In his right, he clutched two bats, one for him and the other one apparently for her. His platinum blonde hair was pulled back as usual and Rose could make out all of his sharp and distinct features as he grinned cheekily at her. His eyes had a little twinkle and he seemed to be waiting for something.

"What?" Rose folded her arms a little confused at what he was waiting for.

"Tell who what?"

She raised her eyebrows.

"So you're eavesdropping and spying on me now? I'm flattered."

"Well don't be. I just came to give you this."

Scorpius tossed one of the bats towards her and she caught it with one hand.

She smiled slightly.

"I er.. well I wanted to thank you again, for letting me play this game."

Scorpius smirked slightly and walked down towards her. Plonking himself on the grass beside her, he spread out his arms and leaned back, glancing at Rose. He place his bat and broom beside him. Rose followed his example and placed her bat down as well.

"Don't thank me. Thank Madame Hooch."

"Yea well you're the one who convinced her to put me on again."

"It was the least I could do."

Rose glanced at him. He had a slightly pained look in his eyes as he stared at her, obviously recalling how he had shouted at her. How he had misunderstood her. It was unusual for Scorpius who rarely showed his emotions. Rose hated to see him so sad.

"Don't blame yourself." she coaxed.

Scorpius looked away, staring at the black Lake depths and chuckled a little.

"Easier said than done Rosie." he murmured.

Rose nodded and sighed.

"Always liked the lake." he commented.

"Me too." Rose volunteered.

"That's a given."

"You nervous too then?"

"For what?"

"The match."

"Just a match."

"Yea but... you know we're going up against some great players?"

"Heck if anyone should be nervous it's you Rose. You're playing against your cousins!"

"Yea well I play against them all the time. It should be Sarah who's nervous."

"Oh right, Al..."

"She'll be ok."

"I know."

"You got a lot of confidence in your team huh captain?"

"I gotta a lot of confidence in you Rose." he muttered lowly and he emphasised her name.

Rose's heart nearly jumped out of her chest. If someone could die from anxiety attacks, Rose was well on her way to her coffin.

"Me? Why? I've got nothing to do with Sarah's emotions."

"I'm saying I trust your judgement." His eyes seemed to set her on fire as they delved into hers. He seemed to be searching for something, possibly a sign of some kind? A sign for what, she wondered. His steely gaze was electrifying.

"Oh. Well... thanks." Rose nearly slapped herself.

She was acting like an idiot in front of him! She felt ridiculous. Here he was, being all serious and profound, not to mention incredibly deep with his killer stare and all Rose could come up with was a thanks? Why in times of stress and panic did she have to black out? Why her? Why? Merlin knew, life was unfair. Especially on her...

"Gonna be rough out there today you know..." he cut through her whirring thoughts. "They aren't gonna go easy on us. Your cousins won't cut you any slack"

"As long as they can hold their tongue." Rose smirked a little. She knew James and Albus relished in the opportunity and chance to destroy her in Quidditch but she wasn't about to let them do that.

"You'll be fine. I know you will."

"So sure?"

"Yup."

"Hmm. Well I trust your judgement."

Scorpius, still facing the front, gazing at the water's edge, smiled a little at this. He was deep in thought. Perhaps he was thinking about possible tactics for the match? Well perhaps then she shouldn't disturb him...

"Thanks. You should. I'm your captain."

At this point, Rose wasn't exactly thinking straight anymore. Her head was practically about to fall off from the pressure of sitting next to Scorpius and her emotions were rushing ahead of logic. She knew it would come to this. That she would never be able to sit and just talk with him any more. But for now she was leaving behind her logical rationale and she didn't care. She was tired of being the practical one. Sensible and good Rose... Reaching out she grabbed Scorpius' arm and squeezed it with her hand. She felt him turn sharply to face her, looking a little surprised. But he seemed to calm down fairly quickly as he caught her reassuring smile. Rose nearly stopped breathing as she watched him slowly raise his left arm and stroke her face. Feeling his slightly calloused fingertips on her cheek, she shuddered. But she didn't pull away. She couldn't. The grey eyes locked on the brown and they just sat there, frozen. Like the lack of time was gone from the equation. They had all the time in the world to just sit there, like this. It was perfect. Rose reluctantly had to shatter the moment. But she had to get it out.

"I trust you." she wasn't just referring to Quidditch anymore. She was talking about them in general. That she trusted him as a person, as her friend. That she was completely dependent on him, that she needed him and that she hoped he felt the same way about her. Scorpius seemed to understand this as a flicker of recognition and understanding flashed across his face. He pursed his lips, still stroking her cheek. Rose braced herself for a similar response from him. She waited for him to say that he trusted her, that they could depend on one another. So she closed her eyes and breathed.

"I love you." The words seemed to have slipped from his mouth. Rose's eyes shot open and they widened. She couldn't be sure if she had even heard him say those words specifically. Had she just imagined it? Emotions were now breaking upon her like waves. Happiness, shock, temporary paralysis. They came at her all at once as she realised that he had said those words, that he did care for her. Scorpius was just staring at her now. His hand had dropped abruptly from her face. He seemed to have just realised what he had said. And the consequences that would possibly come with that. He was blinking in shock. His face was masked in fear and partial horror. He obviously hadn't meant for it to come out like this. But Rose didn't mind. Perhaps he didn't realise just how long she had been waiting to hear those words from him?

"Rose..." he began shaking his head in fear and panic. His hands were running through his hair and he seemed to be contemplating his next move. Seeming to realise that there was escape, that confrontation was inevitable, he opened his mouth to speak.

"Shh!" Rose placed her finger immediately on his lips, smiling a little. "Don't say anything."

Scorpius frowned in confusion, "I don't understand..."

But before he could say anything further, Rose cut him off, leaned forward and kissed him.

Rose had always imagined that for her first kiss, the boy would kiss her not she kiss the boy but somehow this didn't feel awkward and strange, kissing Scorpius instead. It felt interesting and right. Rose didn't know how a kiss was supposed to feel but this felt nice. She noticed that Scorpius didn't pull away either. His hands had somehow managed to snake their way around her waist and they were pulling her closer. Finally, she thought. Now he was kissing her back and Rose suddenly felt limp and turned to jelly in his arms, like this kiss was sucking out all the energy from her body. Draining her almost. But in a good way. After what seemed like eternity, Rose reluctantly pulled away from him. He didn't resist. They had to end it sometime anyway. His hands still cupped her face though and her hair, which had been neatly pulled back for the match, was now slightly frazzled. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were shining. Scorpius just seemed to be gazing at her with infinite adoration and love. Oh what she would give to stay like this forever.

"About time..." she whispered.

He laughed as if in disbelief and looked to the ground.

"Yea well, you are pretty intimidating."

Rose rolled her eyes.

"I'm intimidating?"

"Heck yea."

"Speak for yourself!"

"Oh come of it Rose, I'm not intimidating. You're the one who makes the first years run in terror at the mere sound of your voice." he shook his head at his own lie.

"I have done no such thing! " Rose pulled away from him and pouted slightly.

He gazed at her for awhile. Their faces were only inches apart, they hadn't bothered for propriety especially after a kiss like that and Rose could feel his breath on her nose. His eyes were slightly glazed over, he wasn't unfocused at the issue at hand but he was very shocked about it, definitely. It was as if what was happening had all been a dream. Scorpius seemed to be trying to process everything, so far Rose couldn't be sure whether he was succeeding or failing.

"I thought..." he sighed finally.

"You thought what?" she retorted rather playfully.

He shook his head.

"Doesn't matter now."

He leaned in to kiss her again but Rose bit her lip playfully and pulled away, standing up. Scorpius who had closed his eyes, kept leaning forward, unaware that Rose had moved and fell flat on the grass, face first. The mud on the ground instantly splattered onto his light skin and some managed to get caught in his hair. Rose instantly burst out laughing at the comical scene. Scorpius opened his eyes and stared up at her, pretending to be mad, frowning. Rose stood over him and gripped her stomach, chortling.

"You should see yourself!" she gasped out.

Scorpius squinted slightly as the sun shone in his eye and waited till Rose had composed herself enough to help him up. But that wasn't about to happen tapped his fingers impatiently as she continued to half gasp, half laugh. Stray tears were steaming out of the corners of her eyes.

"You mind?" he smiled innocently up at her.

Shaking her head, Rose still giggling, tried to pull him off the ground. But as she was yanking his hand to help him, he cheekily gave her a yank of his own. Since Scorpius was physically stronger than Rose, he found it only too easy to pull her down to join him in the mud. She screamed playfully as she collapsed on top of him, more mud splattering everywhere. He rolled them over on the grass so that he was the one on top. Rose's hair now had splotches of mud in it and her pristine Quidditch uniform looked like it had been dragged through the forbidden forest.

"Now what was all that for?" he whined at her.

Rose laughed and pointed at her watch seriously.

"We're late for your own briefing. It's only 15 minutes to match time."

She tried to shove him off but he held his ground, pinning her with both of his arms. Rose couldn't help but giggle again. This was more like the Scorpius she knew, confident, cool and stubborn as ever.

"I'm not going anywhere." he said lowly. "Until..."

Rose huffed and folded her arms.

"Please Scorp?" she begged him.

He shook his head stubbornly, his lips pursed.

"Fine" she groaned slightly. But her expression changed immediately as she reached up and cupped Scorpius' cheek with her hand. Her eyes softened and she smiled up at the adoring face above her. Rose was pretty confident that her cheeks would be hurting in the morning from all the grinning she had been doing just this afternoon.

"I love you" her voice was barely audible.

The next thing her brain could process was that Scorpius' lips were on hers again. Eagerly, she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer. She shut her eyes and sighed in contentment as he slowly but excitedly lifted her off the ground, twirling her around. She felt the wind whip against her face and she could feel him smiling against her. Rose could smell him, his cologne and she kept her arms firmly locked around his neck as they spun. Right now Rose couldn't care less about anything else in the world. That was the honest truth. She didn't even care if they won or lost the match today. Well maybe she did, a little but that wasn't the point. Because the point was that no matter what happened after this, she knew she had won. She had won something much greater than just a simple Quidditch match. Quidditch, seemed ridiculous compared to this.

Because Rose had finally managed it. Unbelievably, she had done it and after all this time. She never believed the chance for her to admit her feelings would ever come again but it had and Rose had seized it. And now, she had absolutely no regrets that she had. Why should she? She had Scorpius. Scorpius had her. And unlike last time, she definitely wasn't going to let him get away. Because if there was one thing Rose had learned in the past year, it was that he was much too precious a prize to lose.


	29. Meeting the Malfoys

Rose glanced around her room carefully, scratching her head. Her bed was made, her books had been placed back on their shelves and any other personal effects had been locked away from her nosy cousins and brother. Did she have everything she needed? She thought so. Breathing deeply, Rose couldn't believe what she was about to do. She must have lost her mind. But it was too late to back out of the plan now. Her father might let her, would probably let her but her mother most certainly wouldn't. In the name of being polite... Grabbing the rucksack in the doorway which was filled with her clothes and immediate necessities, Rose swung it over her shoulder carelessly. Taking one final look around, she sighed. She was gonna miss this place. But she wasn't going to be away for that long. Just for a week. The more she thought about it, the more Rose felt like her father was right. This was a bad idea. How she had ever been convinced that it was a good one, escaped her. Oh well, live and learn, she thought. Hesitantly, she stepped out of the room and with a pang, shut the door behind her.

Her mind was spinning as she walked past Lily's bedroom door. It wasn't too late to back out now! That was what the wimp within her was screaming at the top of it's voice. But elsewhere there was a deep resounding voice that was urging her on, encouraging and supporting her. She could do this. She was Rose Weasley for Merlin's sake! Her parents had faced death eaters and snatchers. Dark wizards and dementors. This in comparison to them, was child's play. But to Rose it felt like one of the most important moments in her life, ever. She would impress. She would unnerve. She would make her mother and father proud. Chewing her lip, she paused in front of her brother's room. Knocking on it sharply, she entered without waiting for his response. Every time she looked at her brother's room, Rose could never suppress her disgust. It was always a complete and utter mess. Since Scorpius' visit three years prior, he had added more unattractive images of muggle girls on his walls, much to their mother's disdain and their father's pleasured shock. His clothes were strewn everywhere, Rose could never be sure where the clean stopped and where the dirty began. Over time, everything had merged together. The words, comb, towel, toothpaste or soap were not in Hugo's vocabulary and his room accurately reflected that. He never made his bed and the sheets had stains all over them, mostly from leftover food and drinks. Rose loved her brother dearly but sometimes his messes were too much to bear even for Albus and James. Her mother often blamed Hugo's untidiness on genetics, I.e: their father. Apparently he hadn't been very organised growing up. Not to say that he was very organised now either...

Leaning across the doorway looking at her brother, who was sprawled on his bed reading a book, Rose smiled a little. He looked so comical, with his afternoon snack in his left hand and his book in his right. The situation was so contrasting. Gently, she cleared her throat. He didn't seem to have noticed she was there at all.

Glancing up, Hugo smiled casually at his sister. Rose knew all too well that just about every girl in Hugo's year would kill to see him smile at them like that. For all his flaws, Rose had to admit, that her brother was pretty good looking. His red hair, like Rose's had darkened with age and now it was a deep auburn colour that turned a shade of gold in the sunlight. Hugo was only too aware of this and utilised his hair efficiently by tossing his fringe to and fro so that it gently covered his eyelids. While Rose found the action a little annoying and ridiculous, the girls that hounded her brother around the school seemed to find it dreamy and attractive. But hair wasn't the only thing that Hugo had in his artillery of charm. He had lovely eyes. Rose frankly, had always been jealous of his eyes. They were a lovely shade of blue, not deep sea blue, grey blue almost like Scorpius'. They had darkened slightly over time but they still managed to mesmerize all in Hugo's way. Shoving the disturbing thoughts regarding her brother's attractiveness out of her mind, after all she was his sister. Sisters don't think about how good looking their brothers are, she told herself. She must really be stressed out to be driven to think about that. Of all things! It would probably be better if she voiced her concerns quickly now. So Rose tried to focus on the conversation at hand.

"Heading off sis?" Hugo broke the silence.

Rose nodded quickly, feeling the lump rise in her throat again.

Hugo noticed and chuckled. He never missed anything. Especially with his sister.

"Well have fun then." he replied, stressing the word, "fun".

Rose rubbed her forehead.

"Gee.. Thanks."

"Hey it was your idea to go in the first place." Hugo protested.

"Yea but maybe it wasn't such a good idea."

"Having second thoughts? Where's that Griffindor courage eh?"

"But you forget oh brother, I am a Slytherin!" Rose shook her head.

Hugo raised his hands to his mouth in surprise.

"How could I forget!" he exclaimed sarcastically.

He seemed to have taken an interest in their conversation all of a sudden and was now sitting upright on the bed. He had closed his book and placed it on his bedside table. But he was still eating. Predictable.

Rose rolled her eyes and stared about the room for a moment, thinking.

"What are you afraid of?" Hugo asked patiently.

She shrugged in response.

"I don't know, making a fool of myself."

"Huh, Rosie how could you of all people make a fool of yourself."

"You'd be surprised..."

"So what if you screw up?"

"So what? It's a big deal. I want to make a good impression. I don't want to send the wrong messages."

Hugo sighed and stayed silent for a moment. Then before Rose could process what was happening, he got up from his bed and crossed over to her. Since he had already hit puberty, he was much taller and Rose felt a twinge of annoyance over this fact as she strained her neck to look up to meet his gaze. He placed his hands on her shoulders and stared at her seriously for a moment. Rose felt mildly intimidated by her younger sibling but held her ground.

"You'll be fine. You always are." he murmured.

Rose opened her mouth to reply but he silenced her immediately.

"Just trust yourself ok? Don't try to be someone you're not, don't freak out and keep your calm." he urged.

Rose bit her lip, dying to retort back but finally she exhaled and nodded slowly.

"Ok Boss." she grinned a little.

Hugo's serious expression was gone. He was grinning back at her.

"You got it." he replied.

Pursing his lips he pulled Rose a little closer and hugged her. It was one of those tender, sweet, brother-sister bonding moments. Rose actually enjoyed hugging her brother, especially now that he was physically bigger than her. It made her feel safe and protected somehow. Like how she felt when Scorpius hugged her. Rose wrapped her arms around Hugo's neck and closed her eyes. A thousand scenarios on how this would all turn out, flashed through her mind. For a split second she was panicking again but then the fear was gone. Hugo was right. There was a first but still, he was right. She was going to be fine. She had to tell herself that. She just had to keep cool. That wasn't so difficult... right? Oh course. She had the Weasley blood and the spunk in her. This was a walk in the park. Eventually, after what felt like decades, she felt her brother begin to pull away and Rose followed suit. He smiled again at her, brushing the stray hairs from her face. Rose glanced at the time and her eyes widened.

"I better get going."

Hugo nodded.

"Yup."

"Wish me luck!"

"You don't need it." he said confidently.

"So much faith in me?" she asked a little surprised.

"Of course, you're my sister." his eyes widened as if he was stating the obvious.

She smiled. That was sweet of him to say.

"Thanks Hugo."

At this, he slapped Rose on the back playfully as she turned to go.

"Anytime!" he called out as she closed the door for him, chuckling.

Hurrying down the stairs, she nearly crashed into her mother as she reached the bottom. Thankfully for Rose, her mother managed to steady her by gripping her shoulders firmly, holding her in place like something sticking to glue. Mrs Weasley laughed a little at her daughter's own clumsiness and shook her head in bemused exasperation.

"Rose you alright there darling?" she chuckled a little

Rose panted a little from the running but shook her head stubbornly.

"I'm good."

Her mother stared at her for a moment with a thoughtful look in her eyes. The humorous face she had been wearing earlier, was completely gone. That was one of the interesting things about her mother. Rose had always found it fascinating that she could switch, so easily between moods. Almost like she had a gift. While this could be a good and bad thing, it was still a unique thing to watch. Once when she had been younger and excited about human behaviour, Rose had treated her mother almost like a human test subject, studying her and analyzing her behavior, looking for patterns or clues. Of course she didn't do that anymore. It had been childish and if anything, she didn't have the time anymore. She was far too busy with school work. So nowadays, Mrs Weasley was just good old mum to Rose.

"I'd say if I didn't know any better that you look a little nervous?" Mrs Weasley suggested.

Rose chewed her lip.

"I know that look..." her mother pushed.

She sighed in resignation.

"Ok maybe a little nervous."

"Why on earth for?" Now Hermione was confused.

"I... I don't know!" Rose burst out.

Her mother pulled back for a moment, looking surprised.

"Oh all right, no need to get touchy dear."

"Sorry mum" Rose regretted her outburst immediately.

Her mother shook her head in understanding.

"No I think I actually deserved that dear. I know why you're nervous. Known for quite awhile. I was actually expecting it to come, eventually. After all these feelings are only natural. But I was just pushing to see if you would tell me first. You know, if you could actually admit something to me for a change without me asking first?"

Rose scowled a little at this.

"I was planning to."

Hermione smiled.

"I'm sure you were."

Rose shrugged.

"I just want to make a good impression you know? I mean the way dad talks, it's like they're monsters or something..."

Her mother laughed.

"Well we all know your father tends to exaggerate a bit now and then."

Rose raised her eyebrows in shock.

"Now and then? Try all the time!" she snorted.

Sighing, her mother moved over to sit on the settee in the living area. Grudgingly, Rose followed her. She had a feeling she was about to get one of Mrs Weasley's famous motivational talks. The ones the Hugo in particular, detested. Not that she was isn't the mood to hear one of them but they were really long and Rose was kind of in a rush.

Facing her mother, Rose waited for her to begin.

"Rose," she rubbed her temples thinking, "Where has all your self confidence gone?"

"It's still here." Rose protested, thinking to herself that she had just had a very similar conversation with her brother.

"Then why are you afraid? They're not vicious animals about to tear you apart. Think of them as thestrals. You know, frightening in appearance but gentle in nature?"

Rose snorted.

"That was the best analogy you could come up with?"

Hermione Weasley nodded.

"Well you didn't give me much time to make up a better one."

"Fine" Rose folded her arms. "It's just that this is really important to me. I don't wanna mess up my chances just because I didn't make a good impression you know?"

Her mother smiled.

"Yes I do know"

"I think once I get there it won't be so bad. It's just apprehension I guess."

"Well I'm sure once you get comfortable they'll find impossible not to love you."

"Gee thanks, not actually sure if I want them to love me."

Her mother smirked.

"Yes well, it's better than them hating you."

Rose covered her eyes.

"Oh no! Don't even suggest the possibility!"

"All right, all right."

Rose calmed herself down, "I guess, I'll listen to Hugo's advice. It makes the most sense anyway. Just be myself and be cool!"

Her mother glanced at her a little amused.

"Since when do you take advice from your younger brother?"

"Since now..."

"Oh"

"Yup"

"Well dear since you've seemed to have calmed down a bit, I think I'll take the opportunity to remind you that when you get there don't forget to be polite, offer to help..."

"Mum!" Rose whined. Now that her mother's little pep talk was over, there was really no need for her to stick around. "I know, I also intend to be punctual if you know what I mean?" she said gesturing to her watch.

Hermione Weasley shook her head.

"But dear I just want to make sure..."

"Give it up Mione! The poor girl's gonna die of boredom before she goes anywhere."

Rose watched amused, as she saw her mother scowl impatiently and she smiled up in gratitude at the father who had appeared out of nowhere. He was standing right behind them and his arms were folded so that he appeared to look cross with his wife. But his eyes were twinkling. He gave Rose a cheeky wink.

"Ronald I do wish you wouldn't interrupt me!" Hermione snorted.

"I do it because I care Herm..." he shook his head, walking over to Rose.

Plonking himself down beside his daughter, he placed his arm around her shoulder.

"You know Rosie," he began playfully, "It's never too late to back out..."

"Ronald!" His wife gasped, "That would be so incredibly rude, canceling so late!"

Rose sighed.

"Yea, give it up dad, whether you and I like it or not, I have to go. In the name of being polite!"

Ronald Weasley slumped a little in his seat.

"Well at least I can tell my father that I tried. I really did!"

Rose patted her father's hand comfortingly.

"I know dad, I know."

Her father narrowed his eyes slightly at her.

"All I'm saying is, just because your mother and I approve of Scorpius as your boyfriend, does not mean that the Malfoys will approve of you being his girlfriend. They're into the whole pureblood mania thing. Plus, did I mention that they are cold blooded things, no hearts, like serpents."

"Wow dad," Rose rolled her eyes, "Go figure."

But secretly, Rose's heart always leapt with joy when her father mentioned that he approved of Scorpius. It had seemed, even up to now, too good to be true. Like a miracle. That Scorpius had won over her father of all people.

Rose recalled vividly the day she had first introduced Scorpius as her boyfriend to her parents. After all, it had only been a month ago. She had been afraid, for Scorpius. Her biggest fear was that her father would find a way to kill him and bury him in their back garden without Rose knowing until it was too late. But what had actually transpired had been a far cry from her imagination. Rose had never seen Scorpius behave quite so wonderfully. He was enchanting, lively, polite and cautious, helping her mother and chatting up her father. He was in summation, the perfect gentleman. He didn't smirk once during the entire meeting. Whether he was too afraid to smirk or whether he simply didn't want to, she hadn't known.

He had easily won over her mother, helping in the kitchen, cleaning the dishes and complimenting her hair. Her mother, was a sucker for hair compliments and of course couldn't object to being loaded with them by her daughter's boyfriend. Rose was mildly disturbed that he could get her mother on his side so easily. It was a true art, to win her favour and having mastered that art, Scorpius was now very much respected by Rose and Hugo. Her father had been a little more of a challenge. While he had been relatively impressed with Scorpius when he had visited them for Christmas, meeting him as his daughter's boyfriend had been a whole different ball game. And of course there was the issue that he was a Malfoy. Though they were cordial towards one another nowadays, Rose knew all to well that Scorpius' father and her parents still had a lot of bad blood between them. Her father had been apprehensive, to say the least.

But Scorpius had braved the originally cold voice and the stiff body language. Having broken through her father's defenses by chatting about his true love, apart from her mother, Quidditch, Scorpius had had no issue, making an impression. Of course he had a little support from Rose who cautiously hovered around to make sure her father played nice. She didn't have to really. It turned out that male wizards bonded very easily over a common interest. The next thing she knew, the two of them ended up watching a match together and Scorpius had been invited to the family Quidditch gathering the following month! Rose had realised, fairly quickly that she had only witnessed first hand a small section of Scorpius' charms. He had a lot more up his sleeve that he utilised efficiently.

So at the end of the day when Scorpius had said goodbye to everyone, her parents decision had been unquestionable. Yes he was a Slytherin, but then so was Rose so that hadn't been much of an issue. Yes he was a Malfoy, this fact in particular had been relatively hard for her father to accept, Rose had been glad that he had finally gotten over it's stigma. But he was a good, decent and kind young man. He was understanding and obviously loving. So yes, Rose had her parents' green light to go ahead. Hugo, who had been betting with Rose that they would hate Scorpius, had been infuriated at this decision. Rose of course, had been ecstatic. Not for the money of course but just to know that her parents approved. For all of the things going against Scorpius, his name, his house, her parents had seen him for his merits and that was important to her. Now she only hoped that she would have as much success with his parents. She had to.

Leaning against her father's shoulder Rose sighed.

Ron Weasley stroked his daughter's hair.

"Hey on the bright side, if things go awry, Scorpius will be there to protect you."

"Yea that makes a world of difference." she commented.

She wasn't being sarcastic. She would probably be hyperventilating now if she knew that Scorpius was going to be there today.

"Besides," he mother added, "I don't know about Draco but Astoria has got to be a pretty decent individual to raise such a lovely son."

Rose raised her eyebrow at her mother. She knew her mother was referring to all the compliments Scorpius had paid her. She just couldn't get over them. For the life of her Rose did not know why.

"Yup, ok mum"

Rose realised she was stalling again. She had better get a move on.

Standing up, she made her way over to the fireplace. She grabbed the small pocket at the side and took out some Floo powder. Replacing the pocket, she turned to face her encouraging parents with a smile. Gripping her things tightly, she waved with her free hand.

Her father waved back.

"Hey Rosie, in the small case that things go bad, would you prefer Lilies or Carnations for your funeral?"

"Ronald!" Hermione exclaimed, "You'll make her feel even worse."

Her mother was right.

Rose's stomach had sunk to her knees. But she showed none of her newly acquired fear on her face. Instead she shot her father an unpleasant look. But she was genuinely thinking about his question. After a pause, she replied with a grin.

"I think neither. I'd prefer Roses. Red ones please."

Her father winked playfully at her.

"Bye dear, see you soon!" her mother called.

Rose nodded.

"Malfoy Manor!" she called out, dropping the Floo powder onto the ground as she spoke. A ball of green flames erupted with a bang and Ron and Hermione looked away to cover their eyes and when they turned back, Rose was gone.

"She'll be fine." Hermione consoled herself.

Ron nodded.

"Of course she'll be fine. She's got my blood hasn't she?"

His wife snorted.

"I don't see how that helps..."

He wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see how things turn out?"

"Yes I suppose." she murmured.

Then the two of them stood there for a long while, in front of the fireplace. Rose had never been away from them for more than a few days at a time, unless she was with her family on sleepovers. This was different, a strange and new thing to them, letting her go like this. She was becoming a woman and this first meeting with Scorpius' parents indicated her growing maturity. Rose's departure had a lot more symbolic significance that met the eye. But of course her parents had never expressed this symbolism to her. So there they stood, a little like statues, thinking about their daughter and what she could be possibly be doing at that moment.

Rose landed with a thump. A loud one.

"Oof!" she muttered.

Slowly getting to her feet and dusting herself off, she stepped out of the fireplace, cautiously. This was it. There was no turning back. Consoling herself with the fact that Scorpius was probably this nervous when he had met her parents, she straightened herself up and took a good look around. She was in a dining room. There was a long, long, wooden table that could probably fit up to 20 over people in the middle of the room. A green persian rug was placed below it. A large chandelier hung overhead and there were torches on the walls. Looking at the fireplace from where she had come, she saw the mantlepiece was adorned with intricate designs carved into the wood. Mostly of serpents. A large clock above read the time, 1.00pm. She had perfect timing despite all the delays she had experienced, thanks to her parents. Along the other side of the room were three large windows. Rose could barely make out that they were windows there at all, it was so dark. Thanks to the dark emerald curtains that blocked out the sun. The room had a green tinge to it, not dark and gloomy but a lot like the Slytherin common room. Rose bit her lip. What did she do now?

"Hello?" she called. Her voice was cracked.

There was no answer and her voice seemed to bounce off the walls.

"Hello?" she called out again.

As she took steps forward, her shoes echoed on the wooden floor. She winced slightly.

She had the huge urge to run home now but her willpower or foolishness kept her rooted.

"Anyone home?" she asked.

Suddenly she heard the scattering of feet, someone coming towards the room, closer and closer. Rose's heart could have stopped beating but she willed herself to keep breathing. Suddenly the door creaked open and Rose's eyes widened as she saw a small house elf step into the room. She blinked. She had always guessed that people like the Malfoys would have house elves but the Weasleys had never had any. Her mother was strictly against all of that. She had practically reformed house elf rights during her time in the Ministry and thanks to her, new rules had been implemented to ensure minimal cruelty and abuse towards them. Rose was proud of her mother for what she had done but Hermione, because of her sensitivity regarding the subject, had never really explained much to Rose regarding house elves, their type of magic, the way they functioned etc. Mostly because her daughter had never asked her anything regarding the subject and so they had left things at that. The only place where Rose really noticed them was at Hogwarts and even there, she never really saw them up close. She knew of Kreacher but he was a free elf, her uncle having released him after the second wizarding war. She had only met him once when he had popped in to visit and hadn't been that much of a fan of his, due to his bad temper and general dislike of her mother. So seeing one now, to be facing the prospect of talking to one, Rose didn't know whether to be scared or excited. It could turn into a new learning experience for her. She might find out something about house elves!

"Hi..." she murmured.

The house elf said nothing but simply came towards her. Getting a better look at him now, Rose saw that he was dressed in rags, they weren't filthy or anything but they were pretty unsightly. He seemed happy, contented, there were no scars or cuts on his face, like the scars she had seen on Kreacher's. He was clean and when he finally reached to grip Rose's hand firmly, apart from his slightly calloused fingertips, his skin was smooth.

"Come." he nodded to her.

Rose shook her head.

"Sorry?"

"Come" he repeated and began to pull her towards the door.

"Erm.. ok" she replied and quickly followed his lead.

The next thing Rose knew she was being led, past room after room. All of them looked about the same, with a green tinge, lots of wood but she couldn't get a good look in because they were walking by so quickly. If her parents could see her know, she thought to herself. After what seemed like forever, they stopped in front of a large wooden door. Rose glanced at the house elf who gestured her to enter the room. After a pause, Rose did as she was told. Slowly, she knocked and pushed the door open. It swung forward with a creek and Rose stepped in. Glancing around the room, Rose noticed instantly that it was a living area. But it was worlds apart from the Burrow. The plush green chairs and the settee were organised neatly in the middle of the room, not the the disorderly casual atmosphere of home. Another rug was on the floor. There was a fireplace against the wall but there was an actual fire burning there, a green one. Large bookcases were lined against the walls and Rose caught glimpses of familiar titles as she walked by. Rose stopped in front of one of them to take a closer look. As she reached out to take one of the novels of the shelf, she heard someone clear their throat behind her. She nearly jumped out of her skin and she quickly turned around.

Astoria Malfoy smiled.

"I don't think my husband would take too kindly to you reading his books without permission." she nodded towards the shelves.

Rose instantly slapped her hands to her sides.

"I'm sorry about that. I, love to read." she remarked.

Astoria waved her off with her hand.

"So I've been told. I don't hold it against you. The library is filled with great reading material. No matter, no matter dear. Come, sit."

Rose felt like a stone statue being dragged across the floor. Eventually she found herself opposite Scorpius' mother on one of the chairs. They looked more comfortable than they actually were. Mrs Malfoy who had been reading, set her book on the coffee table and glanced at Rose for a moment with interest. Rose felt like she was being scrutinized, like this was some kind of a test. Finally she extended her hand.

"Hello, I'm as you might have guessed, Astoria Malfoy, Scorpius' mother." her hand remained, waiting for a handshake from Rose.

Rose obliged and offered her hand.

"Rose Weasley."

They shook and then retracted their hands. Mrs Malfoy's hand was cool and pale but her shake was firm and confident. This woman was in charge. Rose panicked at this realization for a moment. Where was Scorpius?

As if reading her thoughts, Mrs Malfoy spoke.

"Scorpius and my husband are in Diagon Alley getting some things for me. They should be back soon."

Rose nodded her head.

"Rose?" Astoria asked.

"Yes." she replied. She was surprised at how firm her voice sounded but she was pleased.

"I am sorry about you being dragged throughout the house like that. It must have been a it of a walk I'd imagine. That's just the specific fireplace the Floo Network takes you to. We've tried of course on numerous occasions to change it to the fireplace near the entrance of the manor but you know these things never get settled. Ministry always promises to fix it and they never do. But what's new eh? It really is a pain when you need to get to the other end of the manor though, like in cases such as these. I suppose the only benefit was that you got an instant tour about the place."

Rose smiled a little at Astoria's casual front.

"Yes it was a little disorientating. But an interesting experience to say the least. I don't think I got a really good look, we were passing by too quickly."

Mrs Malfoy shrugged.

"I suppose you can get used to it, when you've lived here as long as I have! Well perhaps I'll show you round a little later."

Rose nodded. Suddenly remembering her mother's instructions to be polite, she cleared her throat.

"By the way, I wanted to thank you for inviting me for the week. Scorpius talks about you so much, it's such a privilege for me to meet you."

Astoria smiled.

"Well I'd like to thank you for coming at all. For not declining the invitation that is. My husband was convinced that you're parents wouldn't allow you to come. Draco and I have been dying to meet you and now we have you for the week. Isn't it wonderful?" she smiled.

Rose smiled back, a little more at ease. Astoria Malfoy, once you got past the sophisticated exterior, had a very open air about her.

"It is. And of course my parents were more than happy to let me come. After all, you let Scorpius come at least twice to visit them."

"That's true..." Astoria pondered. "I've been so excited about your visit. I don't have a daughter obviously and I've always wanted one. It would be good to have another woman in the house for a change. Not always surrounded by male chauvinists.

Rose chuckled at the idea of Scorpius being a male chauvinist. She could picture it vividly.

Mrs Malfoy continued, "And we have heard nothing but the finest praises from Scorpius about you."

Rose grimaced slightly at this. She mentally noted to herself that she would have to kill Scorpius later for painting her out to be so perfect.

"He exaggerated, I'm sure." she mumbled.

"Well so far, I don't believe he did."

Rose glanced sharply up, her mind whirring with a mixture of happiness and pressure. Scorpius' mother liked her! Well she had indicated that she approved of Rose. Which was good! But they were only talking, so far. Now the only thing Rose needed to do was to not screw things up. That was the pressure that was beginning to bear down on her. But she wasn't going to panic. She had to, as Hugo had told her to, remain cool.

"Thank you." she smiled.

"You play beater with Scorpius don't you?" Astoria commented, switching to another subject.

She's testing me, Rose thought to herself. Trying to see how I would respond.

"That's right, for 5 years now."

"5 years is a long time." Mrs Malfoy commented.

"Yes it is. But playing alongside the same player for a long time has it's merits."

"Trust?" Mrs Malfoy guessed accurately.

"Exactly. And dependence. I suppose you feel more confident and daring because you know the other person had your back."

"You trust Scorpius?" Astoria questioned her. Rose saw her focusing intently, leaning forward, waiting for the appropriate response. So she gave her what she wanted.

"With my life." she noted seriously. Rose knew, she spoke nothing but the truth.

Astoria leaned back in her chair satisfied.

Just then there was a loud knock on the door. Astoria immediately rose and beckoned Rose to do the same. Following instructions, Rose stood up and faced the door.

"Come in" Astoria called.

The door swung open with a familiar creek and Rose's entire body relaxed as she saw Scorpius come towards her. Without even glancing at his mother, he embraced Rose in a warm and friendly hug.

"Glad you made it." he whispered in her ear.

"Glad I came" she mumbled back.

"I'll be praying for you."

"That makes me feel so much better..."

Scorpius chuckled and pulled away.

"I see you've met my mother." he called.

Astoria nodded.

"Yes Rose and I have been chatting for a bit."

Scorpius nodded slowly, looking at his mother in suspicion.

"Uh huh." he muttered.

Rose smiled and whispered in his ear, "Don't worry, we played nice."

Scorpius relaxed slightly and wrapped his arm around Rose's waist.

"But of course you have yet to meet my father..." he said turning to face the door once more.

Rose followed his gaze and immediately her eyes were locked in their place. For a moment, she thought she was looking at Scorpius but realised that that couldn't possibly be the case since he was standing next to her. As her brain processed this information she realised that this "Scorpius" was older, he had wrinkles on his forehead and crow's feet at his eyes. His platinum blonde hair was not quite as full as Scorpius' and it was receding near the front of his forehead. His chin was sharper, more pointed than his son's but his eyes were exactly the same, dark metallic grey that drowned Rose in their depths. Rose gulped slightly as she took in Draco Malfoy.

"Hello sir." she offered out her hand.

Draco Malfoy who had been carrying several packages, apparently from Diagon Alley, immediately set them down on the ground, the whole time still keeping his gaze on Rose. Rose found him very much like his son or rather his son very much like him. His face, was unreadable. She couldn't tell if he was angry, shocked, happy, nothing. But Scorpius warm hand on her waist made her hold his gaze with quiet confidence, her hand still outstretched. She could hear Astoria and Scorpius breathing in anticipation. After an eternity, he finally extended his hand in return and shook hers. Rose had been expecting a cool hand like his wife's but instead Mr Malfoy's palm was warm to the touch, like Scorpius' and his hands were soft and gentle. His grip was firm though, like his wife's but at the same time he made Rose feel at ease.

"Pleasure to finally meet you young lady." he murmured. He had a deep voice and it floated over Rose like a wave of calm. She breathed deeply. They released hands.

"I trust you have been enjoying your stay so far?" he asked her.

Astoria laughed at this. Rose was surprised at her laugh. It was light and airy, like a cloud.

"Oh for Merlin's sake Draco! She's only been her for half an hour."

"It still counts..." he replied. Rose saw his mouth twitch slightly in amusement. The more she saw of his father, the more Rose realised where Scorpius' character came from.

"So Rose," Draco Malfoy strode over to his wife and sat down on the settee. "Sit" he indicated.

Rose obliged with Scorpius close behind her.

"I have been thinking, for the longest time, what question I would ask you when we finally met." He brooded.

Rose waited for him to continue.

"So I think I've come up with a decent one. One I've always been curious to find the answer to. Why with a family full of Griffindors, did the hat place you in Slytherin?"

Rose laughed. She couldn't help herself.

"Don't you think it's a bit late in the day for that question?" she remarked, bemused.

"Probably" he remarked lightly.

Rose did not know how to respond. Thankfully she did not have to.

"I have watched you play Quidditch." he added.

Rose nodded, "That might be the reason."

"For?" Astoria cut in.

"Why I'm in Slytherin." Rose explained. "I'm a brutal player."

She could feel Scorpius smile slightly beside her. Ah memories...

"Yes, that day when you started a fight with that Hufflepuff player..." he trailed off.

Rose flushed furiously.

"You saw that?" she asked.

Astoria nodded.

"Don't get us wrong, it was very entertaining."

Rose looked to the ground. Nobody would ever let her live that moment down.

"Would you consider yourself much like your parents Rose?" Mrs Malfoy asked.

Rose smiled.

"More like my mother. As in, I like to read."

"Yes you told me." Astoria nodded.

"Your father?" Mr Malfoy suddenly spoke up.

Rose noticed something there, an interest, a genuine curiosity. Both of them were trying to find out what she was like, compared to her parents, why she was in Slytherin. Trying to find flaws, or merit? Rose couldn't be bothered to care anymore.

"We both like Wizard's Chess." she offered.

Scorpius coughed and Rose nudged him sharply.

"What was that?" His mother asked him bemused.

"Rose cheats." he smiled at his girlfriend.

"I don't!" Rose protested vehemently. "I'm just not completely forthcoming when I play. A bit of deception, a bit of intimidation is always good fun."

"Sounds like my kind of opponent." Mr Malfoy smirked.

Rose raised an eyebrow, all her fears gone. This was her comfort zone. Suddenly the fears that had been surrounding the whole day were mysteriously vanishing. Hugo had been right. Being herself really did the trick.

"Do I hear a challenge there?" she asked.

Scorpius cheered and Astoria clapped.

"Go on Dad!" he called. "What have got to lose?" Scorpius now seemed to have lost, like Rose all his reservations. He was back to his normal self.

Everyone seemed to be calming down and the formal atmosphere had dissipated. It was just like a family night in. Rose actually was beginning to enjoy herself. Her parents, her father in particular had been wrong. These people were not monsters. They were like her mother had so readily put, thestrals, who seemed frightening but were harmless really. They weren't going to eat or kill her at all. In fact the more Rose talked to them, the more time she spent with them, the more she understood that they were normal people, like everyone else, they had feelings and emotions. Rose could not be intimidated anymore. Yes there had been bad blood and perhaps the parents would always, deep down dislike one another. But that did not mean that Rose had to hate them either. No, on the contrary, much to her own shock, she liked them. She actually found their cold exterior and warm interior attractive. She had a feeling that this next week would pass too quickly for her liking.

"Yes give it a shot dear!" Astoria called to her husband before encouragingly patting Rose as well..

Draco Malfoy glanced at his son and then at his challenger. After a brief pause, he shrugged, he was relaxed.

"I've got nothing to lose when I know I'm gonna win." he addressed his son.

Rose smirked. If he thought he could take her down he had another thing coming. Glancing between father an son, she couldn't help but feel confused. Scorpius had always complained to Rose that he didn't share the same bond, close bond with his parents that she did with hers. That he wished he could be more like her. But looking at him now, Rose realised that that wasn't true. Scorpius was loved by his parents and he loved them. It was so obvious to the onlooker like her. The only difference was that it was a different kind of love. They didn't show their affection openly like her family. It was more reserved, controlled. They put propriety first. Scorpius liked the openness and it wasn't that he wasn't loved, he just craved a different type of love, or display of love. She would have to talk to him about that eventually but for now she had to focus on the issue at hand.

Pulling out his wand from his back pocket, he flicked it lightly an then on the coffee table, appeared a chess board. As the pieces aligned themselves, Rose smiled confidently. She could play this game with her eyes closed. She was the family Chess Champion. This was mostly because she psychologically manipulated them to give up halfway through the game, destroying their self confidence, making them unsure of their next move. It worked every time. Even her father had conceded, she was better than him. That, was saying something. Settling herself into a comfortable position, she looked up at Mr Malfoy, waiting for him to begin. He looked a lot more relaxed than he had a good 5 minutes ago. He had run his fingers through his hair and now it was ruffled, his robes had been loosened and looked more casual. He wasn't smiling but Rose could see a glint of humor in his eyes.

"Ladies First." he indicated.

Rose shook her head.

"That's fine."

He shrugged.

"I should warn you Weasley." he said it lightheartedly, not as an insult. "I am the reigning Wizard Chess champion in this household."

At this his son and wife cheered in support. Rose playfully shot Scorpius a look and he instantly bowed out, silently begging forgiveness. She turned back to the game quickly.

"I've beat my father and we all know how good he is at this." Rose remarked with pride.

"Yea that's something to be proud of!" Scorpius called, recalling with clarity how Rose's father had destroyed him at the game when he had come to visit.

It had been embarrassing for Scorpius and Ron had, for days after that, revelled in his victory, commenting to Rose, "Your boyfriend may get straight As and may be the head of the Quidditch team but he can't play Wizards Chess for nuts! Didn't you teach him anything?" Rose in particular had suffered largely on Scorpius' behalf, taking her father's insults and jokes in silence during every mealtime when not only her immediate, but extended family was there. She had decided then when school started again, she would tutor Scorpius in the art of the game and they would show her father who was boss. But for now, it wasn't Scorpius battling her father. It was her, battling his father.

Draco Malfoy, having processed what she had said earlier, glanced at her a little surprised, obviously impressed. Rose, thinking about it now, often loved watching people whom she challenged to Wizards Chess, observing them really, the way they eventually crumbled before, losing their will, getting intimidated. It made her feel in a strange sadistic way, powerful. So far though, Draco Malfoy was not giving in. He was much better than his son who had forfeited the match before they had begun.

"No need to be afraid..." she teased him.

He sneered playfully.

"Miss Weasley, the word Fear is not in my vocabulary."

"Perhaps," Rose shrugged offhandedly, "But it's in your eyes."


	30. Living in the Now

As the headmistress' speech ended and as she stepped off the stage, Scorpius and Sarah caught each other's eye and smiled casually at one another. Both of them couldn't have been more excited. Or proud. Adjusting off his navy blue silk robes, which were surprisingly comfortable, he began weaving his way through the noisy crowd of students and parents in the Great Hall till Scorpius found himself at her side. Reaching out, she gripped his hand and squeezed it lightly. No words were needed. Her face was lined with unhidden anticipation. Just then out of nowhere, Scorpius heard someone call his name. He knew who it was before he had even turned to see. Glancing at Leo who was hurrying towards them with Claire in hand, he smiled. Leo was speechless and simply thumped Scorpius good naturally on the back and hugged Sarah, lifting her completely off the ground. Sarah, who had been unprepared for this, squealed lightly. Claire smiled confidently at Scorpius who nodded pleasantly at her. Locking hands once more, the foursome stood in excitement as they watched two figures, approach the stage in the front of the Hall. The others seemed to notice this at the same time and all of a sudden the claustrophobic, crowded, rackety atmosphere had dissipated. In it's place was absolute silence as everyone waited, for the figures to speak. Scorpius found himself leaning forward slightly, along with the rest of his friends.

They took their time as they approached the stage. Both of them were wearing the identical looking silk robes as the rest of the students in the Hall. The boy stepped onto the platform first, before helping the girl. His usual messy dark brown hair had been pulled into place, his spectacles for once, appeared clean. His face was clear of scratches and scars and as he approached the podium, his face looked solemn and the only trace of happiness could be seen in his twinkling green eyes. Scorpius' heart leapt as he saw Rose join Albus at the podium. As the Head Boy and Head girl readied themselves, a mild chatter had started up again. But Scorpius was focusing only on the girl on stage. Rose's hazel brown eyes were sparkling, dancing. Her hair was not tied up but her fringe had been kept back by a simple, sophisticated black hairband. Her face looked fresh and her perfect pale skin seemed to glow in the light. Catching her eye, Scorpius smirked as he saw her wink playfully at him. He hoped that nobody else had seen that. But from the amused looks of his friends beside him, Scorpius could tell that had not been the case. Eventually realising that the Head students were waiting for silence, the students began to settle down, people asked friends to hold their tongues and parents who had been fussing over their children's gowns, ceased their actions, with everyone once more placing their undivided attention on the students on stage.

Satisfied, Albus and Rose smiled encouragingly at the people before them. Rose glanced at her cousin for a moment, who gave her the signal to begin. Nodding confidently she addressed the crowd.

"Welcome!" she called. "Parents, Professors, Headmistress and of course, Students. First and foremost, we would like to thank, our wonderful headmistress for that enlightening and encouraging speech regarding our futures, what we want to do with our lives. It is an important subject to reflect upon and I am sure, that everyone will be thinking seriously about these issues in the weeks that follow. But, we are not your Professors. Nor your mentors. We are your School Heads. Who represent you and serve you. So today to spare you any further boredom, we have decided to leave the issue of our futures out of the traditional Heads speech."

This was met by polite applause and several hoots and cheers.

Albus continued. "This has been an eventful year. To say the least. We have had our ups and downs, our trials and tribulations. Heck we spent 7 years together! We have won and we have also lost. I am sure each one of you has a specific memory of the year. We urge you to remember that. Keep that memory with you because it serves as a symbolic reminder of your education here, a gateway to Hogwarts. Things are going to change from now on. As fore mentioned by our headmistress, everyone of us will go on to do great things. But perhaps by retaining that memory, you will never lose sight of what set you on your path of greatness, you will never be able to forget what this school has done for you. We should, never relinquish our roots."

The crowd cheered in agreement.

"But most importantly," Rose smiled at the crowd, "We should never relinquish our friends. The bonds that have been formed here over our seven years together are for life, not just for this period. We have grown with one another, shared life experiences. Happy and sad. Honor these friendships because they are the most important ones that you will ever get."

At her words, Scorpius found Leo pulling the four of them into a close huddle. Rose was right. Hogwarts would serve as more than just a place where they got their education. It served as the breeding ground for lifelong friendships. They had been through so much with one another over these years, it was impossible to simply let them go now.

"So Friends!" Albus called, "Thank you, for the experience, for the journey. We have travelled far together and even though we may take different paths now, as the muggle expression goes, "All Roads lead to Rome". One day, perhaps we will all be together again and that is a day that we as Heads, sincerely look forward to, a day when we will be able to come together and reflect upon our time here. And when that day comes we hope to see everyone just as close, just as loving and just as giving as they were this year. Because that will be the true reward, to see the friendships and bonds last."

Rose finished off, "But for now, let's make these last moments here count! Because no matter what the future holds for us, now matter how exciting or perhaps unknown things may seem, going from here, what we do now is that for now, we are still here! We are together and we are one. Celebrate now, don't anticipate the future. Look at us guys. We have succeeded, we have made it through the NEWTS! We are the graduating class of 2024! So, just to round up before you guys lose it and start partying, Albus and myself would like to thank each and everyone of you for allowing us to serve you this year, for speaking for you and representing you. Because it has been a real pleasure."

The students cheered as Albus raised his graduation cap from his head and tossed it in the air.

"Happy Graduation Guys!" he shouted.

Rose laughed and threw her hat up as well. Everyone took this as a cue and then unanimously the rest of the cohort followed. Scorpius hugged Sarah and Leo ferociously as he watched the navy blue caps sail through the air, students jumping up and shouting, tears running down their faces. The Heads rushed off the stage to join their friends in the crowd. Albus reached them first, making a beeline for Sarah, sweeping her off her feet. Sarah didn't hold back and Scorpius watched with a smile as Albus twirled her around before gently pecking her on the lips. Leo and Claire too, were now hugging one another, with Leo's hands, wrapped around Claire's waist. While he was happy for them, Scorpius just couldn't wait to see his girl. The one with the flaming auburn hair and the perfect smile. He didn't have to wait because a moment later he felt her cool arms wrap around his shoulders. Grinning to himself, he turned around and kissed her full on the lips. He could feel Rose smiling against his mouth and as they pulled away, she hugged him, her hands playing with his hair.

"Great speech." he teased her.

She pulled away and laughed.

"Yea I thought so Scorp."

He stroked her cheek softly and his eyes bored into hers. In the past she would have glanced away in embarrassment of the the intensity but this time she held his gaze.

"I can't believe it..." he breathed.

"I can" she nodded at him.

Suddenly Rose glanced at him a little amused.

"Where's your cap?" she asked him.

Scorpius shrugged.

"No idea."

She chuckled.

"The idea of throwing it up in the air is so that you can catch it later" she indicated to the cap on her head.

Scorpius smirked in retaliation.

"Or is it?" he asked cheekily.

Grabbing her hat before she could say a word, he tossed it in the air and without waiting for it to fall, he spun her around and around until she begged him to stop because she was getting dizzy.

"You see!" Rose pouted, "You made me lose mine."

Scorpius rolled his eyes and Rose responded aggressively by smacking him on the shoulder. Suddenly she seemed to realise something.

"My parents." she explained to him. "I should go see them. Meet up with you later?"

He nodded.

"Yea I should probably see the folks too."

Quickly Rose spun around and hurried off to find the rest of the Weasley and Potter Clan. Yes, literally the whole family had turned up for her graduation. Scorpius watched her go a little sadly. Being apart from Rose nowadays was for him, excruciating. Willing himself to snap out of his thoughts, he forced his eyes into the crowd, searching for his parents. Everyone was crowding around, lumping into groups, it was getting harder to see. Suddenly he spotted his father's unmistakable hair and headed in that direction. Finally the crowd seemed to part and Scorpius ran towards his parents, flinging himself into his mother's arms. His father placed a hand on his shoulder and the next thing he knew, they were all hugging one another in happiness, his parents murmuring how proud they were of him in his ear.

It was an interesting experience for Scorpius, to be sharing a strong hug with them. Especially since it was so out of their character. But then nowadays his parents seemed to be a lot more open with him. Well they displayed their affection more openly. It had first started after Rose's trip the year before. His father had hugged him. He hadn't just patted him on the back but he had really hugged him. Scorpius had felt something then, that he thought he would never feel. Real love. He had always known his parents cared for him but their warmth had never come across as easily as it did when he was with the Weasleys. And in that moment he had experienced that tender affection. Since then, there had been more incidents, more occasions where his parents had become more confident in displaying their pride and affection to their son. Scorpius had begun to suspect over time that Rose had played a major part in their behaviour change. Of course she had.

Rose had figured that perhaps talking to Scorpius would not be quite as effective as talking to his parents. So she had. She had almost suspected at the time that the Malfoys would hang her and slit her open, after all she would be talking to them about their parenting skills, but they had taken her advice very positively. In fact they had had no idea that their son had felt the way he did. They had always believed that he had been comfortable with the way they handled him. Rose's thoughts was like a revelation to them. Seeing them taking her words so seriously and doing something about the problem, I.e becoming more open with their son, Rose's respect for the Malfoys had only grown from there. They in return, had begun to hold greater respect for Rose. Of course all of this was not made known to Scorpius. But then he had always been a pretty good guesser.

Holding them now, he was never more thankful to Rose for speaking to them about it. Merlin knew he would not have had the courage to explain his predicament to them. In fact where she had gotten the courage to address the issue still escaped him. What he didn't fully realise was that Rose loved him, very much, so much that she had put her own fears away to help him with his problem. But why she had done it, how she had done it, was unimportant. What was important was the fact that she had done it at all. And it was because she had done it that Scorpius was now able to share a physical not just emotional bond with his parents. Slowly pulling away from them, he saw his mother was crying.

"Don't cry Mum." he begged her.

Astoria Malfoy hastily brushed away the tears.

"I'm so proud of you sweetheart!" she explained.

"We all are." his father's deep voice rang in his ears and Scorpius swelled in pride.

He nodded.

"7 years pass by much to quickly." his mother reminisced.

Scorpius sighed. She was all too right.

"I'm gonna miss it here." he commented.

"Well," Astoria reflected, " It's like what Rose and Albus said in their speech, you guys are gonna have lifelong friendships. Hogwarts isn't gone forever you know?"

"Feels like it now..." Scorpius sighed a little nostalgically. How he wished he could stay in school forever! Stay young and dependent. Somehow facing the adult wizarding world with the prospect of a job, having to pay the bills, supporting himself, the concept was so alien and strange, he never wanted to face it.

"Rose speaks well." His father sounded amused.

Scorpius glanced at him for a moment but saw that behind the humor, he was being genuine.

"I agree." he commented.

Astoria laughed.

"Of course you do. But then Rose has always been articulate."

"But could have been better. More succinct." his father pointed out.

Scorpius groaned.

"You're just saying that because you're still peeved she beat you at Chess. Let it go, it was over a year ago!" he accused him.

His father shrugged.

"What can I say? I like holding grudges."

His mother smiled.

"But you have to admit dear, that last move she pulled on you, you didn't see it coming."

Draco Malfoy pouted slightly as Scorpius shook his head at the memory. It had been a close match, Rose had not been quite in her top form that day, probably because she herself had been subconsciously nervous/intimidated, but she had been good enough to trick his father at his very last moving, making room for her to checkmate the king. Her psychological prowess had ultimately beat out his father's physical intimidation. Mental skills always worked with Rose. His father of course had become very sullen and quiet for the rest of the night. He had refused a rematch for the rest of Rose's stay. Rose, as Scorpius had predicted, had taken great pleasure in teasing him and the event had become the subject of future family jokes regarding Scorpius' father.

"Speaking of Rose," Astoria turned to her son suddenly, "Where is she now?"

"With her family." he replied.

"Well let's go find them then. I'd love to see Hermione." she suggested.

Scorpius saw his father look a little unsure. The families had met up several times after Rose's visit, just to get to know one another better. While Hermione and Astoria had become relatively good friends with one another, due to their surprisingly similar personalities, Scorpius still noticed tension between the two fathers. They were polite to one another but when certain subjects came up, such as the wizarding war, awkward silences would reign over them. Understandably. Rose and Scorpius had been hoping that with more meetings, the problems would eventually dissolve themselves. Or lessen at the vey least. So far, it was getting better but of course Draco still had reason to be nervous. Neither of the men would admit it, but they made each other nervous and they were intimidated by one another. Ironic...

"Come on dad..." Scorpius urged him.

After a pause, his father shrugged.

"Might as well. I have to talk to Potter and Weasley about work anyway. I'm sure he'll be there."

Scorpius laughed.

"Yea I think her whole family showed up."

"Well come on then." Astoria smiled at the two of them and linking their arms, she began to escort them through the crowd, searching for a group of redheads.

Rose had managed to weave her way towards the redheads who were waiting patiently at the back of the Hall. Her family was unmistakable, that was for sure. Albus wasn't there yet, probably still with Sarah so Rose was the first to be welcomed by her huge crowd of relatives. As she flung herself into her parents' arms, Rose thought to herself, I love my family. She was immediately enveloped in hugs and kisses, cheers and smacks on the back from elder cousins. It was so good to have a large family to support you, Rose thought to herself.

"Oh Rosie!" Ron hug her tightly.

"Well done." her mother smiled at her.

"Way to go sis! You did it. Graduation!" Hugo chimed in.

Rose chuckled and glanced at her brother.

"Yea well next year it's your turn."

Hugo shrugged offhandedly.

"Yea well we can worry about that later."

Just then Rose felt a pair of warm hands wrap around her. Tender hands.

"Grandma!" she squealed, breaking away from her parents embrace and clutching hold to her grandmother as she kissed her on the cheek. "You made it!"

Molly Weasley scoffed.

"Of course we made it. It's not every day your grandchild graduates is it?"

"We?" Rose asked.

Several of her cousins parted and she gasped. Her grandfather had been relatively immobile these late years due to a bad back, he had spent too much time trying to figure out muggle contraptions, and so he often tried not to strain himself by coming out of the house. To see him now, in his wheelchair with his cane, beaming at her with his biggest grin, Rose felt tears of happiness streak down her face. He had made it today, to see her. To witness her graduating. That was the best ever reward! Running towards him, she collapsed on her knees and placed her head in his lap. Arthur Weasley chuckled and stroked her hair gently.

"We love you Rosie." he mumbled.

"I love you grandpa!" she cried.

"Now, why the tears huh?" he shook his head.

"I... I'm just so happy." she chuckled brushing the tears from her face.

"I'm happy too." he replied.

"Thanks for coming." she told him.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world Angel." he smiled down at her.

The Weasley and Potter Clan smiled as they watched the touching scene before them. Finally Hugo broke the tender silence.

"So does that mean Grandpa will come for my graduation?" he asked.

Everyone turned to scowl at him playfully for breaking the moment.

"What?" he asked.

Rose laughed and shook her head at her brother.

"Perhaps." Arthur Weasley pondered. "If you keep your grades up, I might consider..."

Hugo pouted. "That's bribery."

"Is it?" Molly Weasley laughed and walked over to her husband, gripping the wheelchair handles.

Rose smiled and got to her feet. Her grandfather gently stroked her face and she squeezed his hand. Turning to face her other family members she opened her arms.

"Ok, so who's next to hug me."

"Me!" came an enthusiastic voice from the back.

Rose waited as whoever it was made their way to the front.

"Maddie!" she cried in shock as she rushed over to embrace her friend.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

Madeline crossed her arms.

"What I can't come to see you graduate?"

Rose shook her head.

"No way!"

Madeline laughed.

"Come here you."

Rose smiled against her. It was good to see Madeline here. She and James had graduated a year earlier but that didn't mean that Rose didn't see her anymore. Quite to the contrary. Madeline and James were still very much a couple, a strong one and she spent many afternoons over at the Burrow. They even had the same job, they were Aurors. Grandfather always said that there was a wedding just waiting to happen. Rose hoped that James would marry her, secretly. She would love to have Madeline as an official family member of the family. She was already so close to everyone in it and it was obvious James was head over heels for her. He always had been. Over time Rose's friendship with her had expanded past Quidditch. It turned out they shared the same interests and tastes and they often hung out in Diagon Alley with one another nowadays. They had become confidantes and on Rose's bedroom wall with all her moving photographs of her friends, there were quite a number with Madeline in them.

"Thanks for coming" she grinned as they pulled away.

"No prob!" Madeline grinned back.

As Madeline stepped back into the crowd, James came forward. Rose raised an eyebrow. She was interested to hear what he had to say. James was like her big brother, he had taught her everything. From Quidditch to DADA homework, he had been there. Rose in many ways looked up to him as her role model. It had been tough for her to see him graduate the year before and his lacking presence this year had often pained her. But she took comfort in the fact that at least she still lived 4 bedroom doors down from him. So as he approached her now, she could help but giggle a little as she caught his playful smile. The next thing she knew, she was in his arms and he was spinning her around, like she was a little girl again. James always seemed to have that effect on her.

"My turn now..." he teased and she laughed.

Placing her on solid ground, he panted slightly.

"Boy, Rosie. You got heavy!" James chuckled.

Rose smacked him but shrugged her shoulders helplessly.

"That's what happens as you get older James." she explained.

He frowned.

"You acting all smart now that you're a Hogwarts graduate?" he asked.

"Got every right to." Rose placed her hands on her hips.

"Oh yea!" James playfully challenged her.

"Yea!" she retorted back.

The suddenly both of them erupted into helpless giggles and they were hugging again.

"Good job." he told her.

"Thanks." she murmured back.

"Hey you guys!" Uncle Harry and Uncle George called. "Break it up, our other star graduate is here."

Rose turned to see Albus running towards his family. She expected him to run towards his parents but instead she found him wrapped around her instead. A little taken aback, Rose blinked for a moment before she hugged him back.

"Congrats cos." she chuckled a little.

"You too." he breathed.

Pulling away, Rose moved so that Albus could receive the full congratulations of his family. He was immediately swamped by his siblings and his parents. James tried but unsuccessfully attempted to lift him on his shoulders. Lily cheered. Aunt Ginny was tearing and Uncle Harry thumped Albus on the back.

"Two kids down, one more to go!" he called out proudly.

Albus stared at his dad for a moment and smiled slightly at the joke before turning back to Rose. Linking arms, the cousin walked up to the rest of their well-wishers.

"Good on you!" Roxanne called.

"Yea best of luck." Fred thumped their backs.

Louis, Victoire and Dominique smiled at them politely. That was just like them, she thought.

Rose and Albus thanked them all and chuckled to one another, they were on cloud 7. It was nice to end things at Hogwarts this way. Rose would definitely remember this. This would be it, this would be the memory, the one that Albus had mentioned in his speech to everyone, that she would recall. Her one special thought that would keep Hogwarts fresh in her mind. Why this particular memory? Well because she had begun school with Albus and this was how she was going to end it, with him by her side.

"Well look at our Heads together." Hermione smiled at her nephew and daughter.

"Yea," Ron shook his head, "I still can't believe both of you managed to get the positions."

"What can we say?" Rose shrugged. "Al and I are gifted."

She heard James snort a little at this but they ignored him. Nothing was going to ruin their day. Thankfully they didn't have to do anything to James anyway. Rose's father beat her to it, giving him a powerful scathing glare. James of course quickly, looked away. Rose swelled with pride. Her father's glares were really, really good. Albus seemed to notice James' reaction as well and squeezed Rose's hands. She knew he was laughing on the inside.

"How about a picture then? Of our two Weasley/Potter Heads." Hermione asked them.

Albus shrugged.

"Why not? Make the memories last!"

Laughing and pulling her cousin a little closer, Rose wrapped an arm around his shoulder and smiled towards the camera that her mother had magically whipped out from her purse. She was giggling so hard, she thought she was about to have a stomach ache.

"Smile!" Mrs Weasley called.

Rose did as she was told as the camera clicked and the flash temporarily blinded her.

"Nice!" her mother smiled approvingly at the image on the camera screen.

"I agree!" Ron nodded as well.

"How about a picture with me then?" a familiar voice called.

Rose turned around and hurried over to Scorpius. He responded with enthusiasm and hugged her again. Rose felt herself lift slightly off the ground but immediately after, she was set down again. They were suddenly interrupted by a loud cough behind them.

"Good to see you too Scorp!" Albus called.

Rose shook her head at her cousin.

"Hey Albus, great speech man!" Scorpius called back sportingly.

Albus walked over to Scorpius and the two of them quickly embraced. It was actually kind of touching to watch them. Over time, their initial dislike of one another had evolved into a true friendship. If they were any closer, Rose was sure that they would have been brothers. They supported each other now in everything, except when it came to Quidditch and when they were the opposing teams.

"So Al, what's next for you?" Scorpius asked in interest.

Rose's cousin smirked.

"I'm gonna pull some strings. Use my connections" he joked. "My brother's gonna help me become an Auror."

"All right." Scorpius cheered. "That's the Slytherin attitude!"

"That's my guys!" Rose cheered as she walked over and placed her arms around the boys.

"What about the parents?" Ron Weasley pouted.

"Yes, I was beginning to wonder when we would get noticed."

Rose nodded politely as Draco and Astoria Malfoy stepped forward.

"Hi Astoria!" Hermione stepped forward.

"Hi" Ron nodded to Draco.

"Congratulations Rose." Draco Malfoy turned to her.

"Thank you sir." she replied.

"Yes good job!" Astoria called before making her way over to Mrs Weasley to chat.

"I've been thinking for awhile." Draco continued.

"Yes?" she asked.

"I think I might be ready for that rematch..."

Rose burst out laughing and she saw the corners of Mr Malfoy's mouth curve upwards. Even her father looked a little surprised that she was able to create that kind of reaction from a stoic individual such as Draco. It was good, for Rose anyway. It reflected the kind of impact, positive impact that she had on people.

"You can have your rematch," she gasped in between chuckles, "But be prepared for the same end result!"

Draco smirked.

"We'll see about that."

With that he turned and began to head over to Ron, instantly striking up a conversation. Her father didn't seem agitated or uneasy. From the way the two of them were talking to one another, Rose could tell the issue interested work. Knowing that to be a safe subject, she allowed herself to divert her attention away from the two men.

Scorpius shook his head as he glanced helplessly at Rose.

"You guys will never let it go?" he asked her.

Rose chewed her lip.

"Never"

He laughed.

"That's what I love about you."

"Uh huh..." she nodded at him.

"You nervous then?" he asked changing the subject.

Rose pondered the question.

"For the future?"

"Yup."

"I think I'm taking my own advice, I'll just enjoy the moment."

"I think I should take you're advice too."

"Heck Scorp you don't need to worry. You already have a confirmed tryout with the Falmouth Falcons."

"And you have one with the Chudley Cannons!"

Rose shrugged.

"No big deal."

"Big deal." he emphasised. "We could become pro Quidditch players."

"I know right?" Rose now couldn't contain the excitement and it was written all over her face.

Scorpius threw her a smirk.

"So much for no big deal..."

"I was trying to be modest."

"You, modest?"

"Hey!" she smacked him again.

Rose and Scorpius had both discussed it, what they wanted to be after graduation. The career paths they would take. Rose had always known that she had wanted to do something with Quidditch. After all the game had been one of the few constants in her life. Scorpius had been pretty keen on the career choice as well. It also had something to do with the fact that he wanted to remain close to Rose. While she had heard that Draco Malfoy would have preferred his son to be working in the Ministry, both sets of parents had supported their children at their team tryouts. They had agreed with one another not to try out for the same teams because they didn't want conflict of interest or jealousy if one of them didn't get the position and the other one did. So they had gone and they had auditioned and they had gotten places. Both of them. Rose remembered how happy she had been when she had discovered the news. Even happier when she realised that she might one day play against Scorpius. Not in the Hogwarts Pitch. But in a professional event. A real tournament. That was worth more than just house points.

Thinking about their exciting prospects now, Rose couldn't help but anticipate the future. So much for following her own advice. Just then she saw Sarah running towards her.

"Rose!" she cried as they embraced.

Rose felt, much to her surprise, fresh tears coming down the side of her face. But then why shouldn't she be crying. Sarah was one of her best friends, the oldest girl friend she had had at Hogwarts. They had been through puberty, boy issues, zits and makeup experimentation together. Gosh she was going to miss her! Rose thought to herself.

"Oh Rose" Sarah stared at her sadly. "I'll miss you!"

"Me too!" Rose sighed.

"But you'll write to me right?" Sarah begged her.

"All the time." Rose promised, her voice choking.

"Even if the postal is expensive?" she asked hopefully.

Rose smiled.

"Even if the postal is expensive."

"Why should the postal be expensive?" Scorpius asked curiously.

"Sarah's been accepted as a healer student. She'll be traveling a lot to various facilities. Out of the country as well." Rose elaborated.

"Wow congrats Sarah!" Scorpius smiled.

Sarah blushed.

"Thanks. I'm really pumped to get started."

"You should be" Scorpius nodded. "It's a noble profession."

"Good luck with Quidditch too." she smiled at Rose and Scorpius.

Rose nodded and Scorpius squeezed Sarah's hand. He was going to miss her too.

"Send your letters with Albus, it's cheaper that way." Sarah encouraged.

"You better go and say bye to him." Rose gestured over to her cousin.

Sarah who had been tearing as well, nodded quickly, brushing away tears. Giving Rose and Scorpius a final hug, she hurried off to Albus.

Watching Sarah go, Rose realised that everything she knew was about to change. Yes it would be nice to just enjoy the now and not think about the future but it was impossible not to. It had suddenly hit her with a hard blow, one that she had not been expecting at all. All these people, whom she had laughed and cried with for so many years, they were no longer the central part of her life. Did everyone who graduated feel that way? Had James and Maddie felt that way? Rose's heart ached as she was faced with the prospect, the frightening prospect of an unsure and unknown future. Who knew where life would take her? She might be playing Quidditch now but she wouldn't do it forever. And then what would she do from there? she pondered. How could anyone live in the now when they were faced with so many burdening questions? How had she managed to stand on stage and deliver a speech like that if she didn't believe really in it's message.

Just then she felt Scorpius' comforting hand on her shoulder once more. It squeezed her lightly. Without looking at him, Rose knew what he would have looked like. His kind face, traced with comfort and hope. To Rose he seemed to be saying through that light touch, "just follow your advice Rose. Everything will be alright." And then Rose immediately found herself listening and relaxing. Her muscles seemed to un-tighten and let lose and she felt a weight lift off her. She had been wrong. She had believed in her message. She did and needed to live in the now. She was living in the now. She had just suffered from one of her minor panic attacks, that was all. Well minor wasn't really an accurate description but the point was, she hadn't bee thinking straight. Everything was all right. And everything would continue to stay right. Glancing at the happy scene before her, Astoria, Hermione, Ron, Harry, Ginny an Draco chatting happily and amiably with one another, her grandparents smiling at one another, her cousins plus Madeline chasing after each other, throwing confetti like they were little children again and Albus and Sarah embracing in the middle, she smiled. And then there was Scorpius, who had now wrapped his arms around her, his chin on her shoulder as he watched their families with her, smiling too. Yes, no matter what happened from here, everything would be alright.


	31. Note from the Author

Dear Readers,

It seems we have finally come to the end! It is a little surreal that it is all over especially since there were times where I honestly believed I would never get this little work of mine done. It is bittersweet to finally finish this little project. It's been a great source of amusement and fun for me and I've enjoyed every moment of the creative process, growing and developing with the characters, laughing with them and crying too. All of them, even Mel have found a place in my heart and I will sincerely miss writing about them. It may seem a little cruel that I've left Scorpius and Rose in that time of their lives, that I've ended things there. Many people would probably seek a more definite ending to their story. Such as, what happens to them after graduation. But I feel, there is no ending. Not really. It's cliché yes, but I'd like to think that it's always changing, they are always growing. They'll definitely have more laughs and more fights long after graduation. That everyone can be sure of! The point is, I don't want to wrap everything up so neatly. I'd like to leave what happens at the very end, to you, my readers' imaginations. Since you all have such wonderful imaginations :)

I would also like to say a big thank you to all the wonderful people who stuck with me during the creative process, putting up with my bursts of inspiration as well as my writer's blocks. I know how annoying I can be when I'm writing. Particularly my sister, who painstakingly listened to draft after draft, helping me to refine and to tweak. Her opinions and ideas contributed greatly to the final product. And of course to you, the readers, those who stuck by me as I wrote the story, offering your wonderful opinions and feedback, helping me to make the story better. And for those who gave me sweet and wonderful compliments on my work, they really brightened my day and encouraged me to write more than ever. All of you, made the difference.

So, to sum all of this up, I just want to say thank you for sharing this experience with me, especially since I'm so new at all of this. I'm looking forward to starting another piece of work and I hope all of you stay tuned to check it out. Keep posting your thoughts and comments because they all help me make my work better. Of course I have to add in the all too important disclaimers, I own none of these characters, places, objects etc and all the credit goes to J.K Rowling. The only thing I do own is my imagination, something I am really grateful for.

Best Wishes,

meercat-DR


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